"Death of a Salesman" meets "Glengarry Glenn Ross" on acid, this portrait of the empty, horrible life of door-to-door selling was made on the cheap in 20 days for the BBC. It has Boyle's characteristic energy, and playful eye and a great, if occasionally over-the-top performance by Timothy Spall as a salesman brilliant at his craft if without a shred or morality or self-worth left, along with a solid performance by Michael Begley as the young 'rookie' assigned to apprentice with Spall. All that good stuff said, I just wish this was deeper. It's dark, certainly, but there's a certain familiarity and even glibness to it's manic attack on capitalism. Enjoyable, fun, sad, but it feels like inside this good movie was a great one looking to get out.

After a string of awful movies - especially "Strumpet" - Boyle does a rather entertaining English-type indie thing which, though visually unappealing and dominated by hand-held camera and other annoying stuff, maintains a certain level of interest. Spall certainly helps affairs, but the David Thewlis look-alike also.There is a very funny scene where Spall plays a "motivation song" in the car: it is a simple punk song with the lyrics being only "Sell! Sell F***ing Sell! (etc)..." which he then sings to. It's a solid movie, but no need to get too excited. If you are a fan of "Trainspotting", don't expect that sort of level of entertainment here.

This very different story about salesmen selling vacuum cleaners is dominated by the impressive talents of Timothy Spall as the character Tommy Rag. Spall is absolutely hilarious at the start of the movie as the loud, repulsive Tommy who shows rookie salesman Pete (Michael Begley) the ins and outs of the art of selling people things they don't need or want. Tommy's extreme behaviour (perhaps best displayed in his erratic, abusive driving) is a real treat to watch, almost as if the part was written for Timothy Spall's acting.Unfortunately, the entertainment value of the film lulled a bit during the middle and end, as the film's characters' circumstances changed and a darker tone was taken. This in itself isn't a bad thing in a movie, but I just found the final two-thirds of the movie didn't match the very funny and entertaining first third.3 stars/5

Just saw this on DVD last night. It is not a comedy, although there are some very funny bits in it. There are also some deeply poignant moments in the movie,particularly involving Pete.And, there are some wonderful insights into to what makes this salesman'scharacter tick. Timothy Spall is brilliant, and his supporting cast members,including Michael Begley and James Cartwright, are well suited for their roles. Worth a look for its current take on salesmen, selling and the end of an era. A dark "Death of a Salesman", or darker "Oh Lucky Man" so to speak.