

A minor car accident drives two rival aluminum-siding salesmen to the ridiculous extremes of man versus man in 1963 Baltimore.
Acting
Dreyfuss and DeVito's delicious mutual loathing—two titans at peak petty.
Direction
Levinson's Baltimore love letter, lived-in and period-perfect.
Writing
Dialogue so sharp you'll quote the scams for days.

Director
Barry Levinson
Trivia, insights & behind the scenes
Dreyfuss and DeVito improvised extensively; their mutual disdain onscreen reportedly needed little acting.
The film captures the dying breed of 'tin men'—door-to-door salesmen who'd vanished by the 1980s, replaced by telemarketing and deregulation.