Rudy "Trust Me" Russo (Kurt Russell) is a used car salesman with dreams of political office. In order to secure his nomination, he must provide a cash donation; he's $10,000 short. His boss, Luke Fuchs (Jack Warden), offered to give him the money. Rudy is so grateful that he offers a 50-50 split on all the graft once he's in office. However, Luke's brother, Roy (Jack Warden), owns a used car dealership across the street and has eyes on securing a monopoly. If something happened to Luke, he would inherit the lot. Well, as long as Luke's daughter didn't show up. Barbara Fuchs (Deborah Harmon) came looking for her father and found herself as the owner of a failing car dealership. Could she and Rudy keep it solvent long enough to benefit from a new highway exit?
The movie is a series of zany gags and crazy humor. In order to drum up business, Rudy contacted Freddie (David Lander) and Eddie (Michael McKean) to hijack the local TV signal and air a commercial for the dealership. That Lenny and Squiggy appear was itself hilarious. The commercial goes horribly wrong with the female model (Cheryl Rixon) somehow made topless; the lot was packed the following day. Further such antics saw the pair hijack a presidential address!
Jack Warden makes for a terrific villain as Roy Fuchs. There is no underhanded tactic that is beneath him, including an effort to put his niece in jail. Kurt Russell inhabits his role as a sleazy car salesman, only too happy to do whatever it took to sell a car. Despite his dishonesty, manipulativeness, and general lack of morals, he was somehow likable. Gerrit Graham was a great wingman to Russell. His faith in superstitions from rabbit's feet to saltshakers to fear of red cars made him a constant source of laughs. By contrast, Deborah Harmon is left as the straight man in most of the gags. To add yet another classic guest appearance, Al Lewis (best known as grandpa from The Munsters) played Judge Harrison.
At the time this was released, it was quite the raunchy comedy. Today, it feels tame. Nonetheless, it is a lot of fun. Recommended.
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