Cadillac Man (1990)

Taglines: Legend. Lover. Salesman. A way with words. A way with women. And way over his head.

Cadillac Man movie storyline. Queens car salesman Joey O’Brien (Robin Williams) must deal with the ever-increasing pressures in his life: he has an ex-wife demanding alimony, a daughter who is missing, a married mistress (Fran Drescher) and a single mistress (Lori Petty) who are both desperately in love with him, and a two-day deadline to either sell twelve cars or lose his job. In addition, he has an outstanding loan to a Mafia don which he must either quickly repay, or lose his life.

On the day of the big dealership car sale (and the final day of O’Brien’s deadline), the car dealership is taken hostage by an AK-47-toting motorcyclist (Tim Robbins) who believes his wife (Annabella Sciorra) is cheating on him. Joey manages to talk the man out of doing any harm to the other hostages, as police surround the dealership.

Without realizing that the assailant’s gun is not loaded, the police wound him after most of the hostages have already been released which prompts Joey to promise to remain with him while he recovers. The crisis solves all of Joey’s problems: his mistresses learn of each other and dump him, his daughter returns, his job is secure, the Mafia don (whose son was among the hostages) forgives his debt, and he begins to reconcile with his ex-wife.

Cadillac Man is a 1990 American black comedy film directed by Roger Donaldson, starring Robin Williams and Tim Robbins. The plot of the film centers around car salesman Joey O’Brien (Williams) whose life is consumed by turmoil, which all comes to a head when his dealership is taken hostage by Larry (Robbins), a crazed motorcyclist. The film received mixed reviews from critics and performed poorly at the box office, grossing $27.6 million against its $15 million budget.

Directed by: Roger Donaldson
Starring: Robin Williams, Tim Robbins, Pamela Reed, Fran Drescher, Zack Norman, Lori Petty, Annabella Sciorra, Paul Guilfoyle, Eddie Jones, Mimi Cecchini, Tristine Skyler, Judith Hoag, Lauren Tom, Anthony Powers
Screenplay by: Ken Friedman
Production Design by: Gene Rudolf
Cinematography by: David Gribble
Film Editing by: Richard Francis-Bruce
Costume Design by: Deborah Kramer
Set Decoration by: Justin Scoppa Jr.
Art Direction by: Patricia Woodbridge
Music by: J. Peter Robinson
MPAA Rating: R for adult situations / language and violence.
Distributed by: Orion Pictures
Release Date: May 18, 1990