Released the same year as Mike Judge's "Office Space," "Suckers" shares something else with that cult classic: both films start out brilliantly, then go off the rails in the second half. "Suckers" focuses on the sales staff of the Avatar auto dealership. Their leader is Reggie, played by Daniel Benzali. For those who only know Benzali for his taciturn legal eagles on "NYPD Blue" and the first season of "Murder One," "Suckers" is a revelation. Reggie by turns is profane, hilarious, racist, cynical, and throughly corrupt, and Benzali hits all these notes with mesmerizing perfection. Anyone who's bought a car will feel a chill as the film peels back the art of the deal. The inflated opening offers, the deliberately confusing spiel of numbers, the manipulation of customers' behavior (keep them nodding, keep them saying "yes," walk away and make them follow), the "closers" who move in for the kill after the salesman has softened up the customers--all are on display here. And yet, like a great caper film, we can't help rooting for the salesmen as they ply their trade. Throughout its first half, "Suckers" purrs like a Ferrari... ...which makes it all the more frustrating when the second half clunks along like a used Pinto. Suddenly the "plot" of the film kicks in, and "Suckers" spirals into an uneasy mix of drug dealing, loan sharks, larceny, and violence, culminating in, of all things, a "Reservoir Dogs" styled shootout. The abrupt change in tone may have been intended as farce, but the film's conclusion still fails to live up to promise of its opening 40 minutes. "Suckers" isn't totally undone by its second half, but it never really recovers. That being said, I'd love it if the filmmakers attempted a remake. There's a new breed of auto buyers out there who think their internet research has prepared them for the showroom showdown, and I'd love to see how the sales force can still win out. And I'd love to see if, on a second go-round, the film can hit on all cylinders instead of coast on fumes.
