Michael Douglas plays an aging salesman who is down on his luck. Once the owner of a very successful chain of car lots in New York City, he has recently lost all his social cache (and his cash) after a conviction for fraud. Even so, he is still a salesman and probably the most important, smartest and coolest man he knows. Every encounter with every person is an angle to work, as he tries to dig himself out of professional and personal purgatory, without even realizing that the personal portion is an issue (we are not even sure in the end if the realization comes). This navigation of angst traverses a lost career, failing health, screwed up family relationships, lost opportunities and ultimate self realization that goes along with getting old. All told, there is a lot of angst here. Douglas plays it flawlessly, but so much angst makes the movie get old quickly. By time we are half way through the film, we get it. If only there could have been something else to keep us interested, to mix it up a bit. Alas, there is not.
3 stars (out of 5)
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