Daniel Benzali stars as Reggie, a pit bull of a car salesman who trains his crew to bilk customers out of as much cash as possible. Bobby DeLuca (Louis Mandylor) gets pressure from his wife (Lori Loughlin) to find a job at the dealership. Owing money to loan sharks and desperate for cash, Bobby reluctantly becomes an expert at screwing over his customers. Things go astray in Reggie’s tightly-run venture when loan sharks call in Bobby’s substantial debts. An award-winning indie cult hit directed by Roger Nygard (TREKKIES), SUCKERS is “a great movie that’ll make you think twice before buying that next car.” (The Dallas Morning News) “[It] has the macho punch of a David Mamet drama.” (The Minneapolis Star Tribune)

Included on the Blu-ray of SUCKERS is a Bonus Double Feature Presentation of SIX DAYS IN ROSWELL in an all-new 4K restoration, with its own set of Special Features!

Jamie’s Take (3.5 / 5)

Ok, here comes a biased review. For those that do not know me, I work in the car industry and unfortunately I work with dealers from time to time. I know how they act. I know how they speak. Shit, I can be the same way and some of my sarcasm and blunt language comes out in a few of my reviews. Suckers gets car salesmen and dealerships just right. In fact, Suckers, while a comedy, feels like a documentary to me. These guys do exist and while some of their behavior is over the top, that my friends is how it is.

Made for only $500,000 and shot on gorgeous 35 mm, Suckers is a pretty damn funny movie. The opening “hook” with how a used car salesmen is able to con an unsuspecting buyer into purchasing a vehicle for over the value but gets chastised for not screwing the guy over on floor mats is absolute gold. It’s these moments that made me fall in love with this movie despite some obvious flaws.

Louis Mandylor (Mafia, My Big Fat Greek Wedding) stars as Bobby Daluca, an unemployed husband / father who owes some money to a duo of loansharks and quickly needs to make a buck. Bobby decides to work as a car salesman where his wife (Lori Loughlin from Secret Admirer) works at. Bobby is thrust into the world of car salesmen and their sleazy and cut-throat behavior. Their boss, Reggie is played by scene stealer Daniel Benzali (from TV’s Murder One and NYPD Blue). Any scene Reggie is in is absolutely hilarious and just pure gold. Reggie is a ball-busting, misogynist, racist, arrogant, backstabbing prick and has no shame about it. It’s all about making money and he gives no fuck in who he screws over just to make some dough. Reggie decides to give a bonus to the first salesman that can make the most amount of sales by the end of the month. Knowing this bonus can get him out of a jam, Bobby quickly learns from his co-workers and becomes one of the top rated salesmen at the dealership.

Suckers has some wonderful moments and really shows the mind games and tricks that these car salesmen do to their unsuspecting prey. They even nail down the constant side betting that takes place daily behind closed doors, betting on which salesmen will screw up or can close faster. Salesmen doing drugs, having sex in the cars they sell, berating one another during meetings…it’s all here. These men hate one another but are bonded by greed. Their behavior is so appalling and shocking, one can’t help but laugh. It reminded me of the film Swimming With Sharks but everyone is playing the Kevin Spacey role. Some of the filth that Reggie spouts off had me laughing so hard, I felt ashamed for even laughing (snowflakes and millennials will not like Suckers). Alec Baldwin’s salesman from Glengarry Glen Ross doesn’t hold a candle to Reggie.

Suckers isn’t without issues as the film does jump around from past to present in the first act that feels jarring and a little confusing. The third act turns into a Tarantino thriller with an ending that seems right out of True Romance and Reservoir Dogs with characters being tortured and everyone pointing guns at one another. I would have preferred Suckers being a more straightforward black comedy without changing its tone to this dark, violent ending (although I do enjoy the quick cameo by Tim Thomerson whose sporting a bad hair dye).

The blu ray looks nice and I for one love seeing movies shot on 35 mm presented in HD. The picture looks crisp but maintains that film grain that I love so dearly. Synapse does provide some amazing special features like a great audio commentary by director Roger Nygard and crew / cast, deleted scenes, raw footage and drumroll…Nygard’s produced mockumentary Six Days in Roswell. I had low expectations going into Six Days of Roswell as I thought this was just a documentary about UFO enthusiasts which frankly didn’t appeal to me. I had no idea that this was a mockumentary where our main focus, a man in his late 30’s who lives in a basement and loves UFO’s and wants to visit Roswell, is actually an actor who went to Roswell to film real UFO enthusiasts. I was howling over a few scenes (our main protagonist rents a Winnebago from an old man who keeps looking in the window at him, his elderly grandmother warns him sweetly to watch out for Mexicans when he goes to Roswell, the parade where he is dressed like Captain Pike from Star Trek) and while I wished the documentary would have poked a little more fun at its subjects, it’s still worth checking out.

With a great double feature and plenty of extras, this blu ray by Synapse doesn’t suck.

Hidden Treasure/Dumpster Fire?

Jamie says: Hidden Treasure!

Jamie's Take:	(3.5 / 5)
Blu-ray Extras:	(4.5 / 5)
Average:	(4.0 / 5)

Special Features