Hurt & Save (2001)

Tom Haslett left his job as a dairy farmer to pursue a career selling adjustable beds. He was attracted to the profession, he says, because he "wanted to help people a bit." Now, he's one of his company's top-grossing salesmen. Hurt and Save follows Tom as he ventures into the sanctity of people's homes and bedrooms in order to demonstrate his bed's "healing qualities." Along the way he's introduced to a canary by a spry widow, gets a tour of a lewd painting collection, listens to a depressed man's account of his suicide attempt, and hones his sales techniques to hilarious effect at a monthly sales meeting. Many of Tom's customers are glad to have some company, but though often eager to talk, they rarely buy. Alternately serious and bizarre, Hurt and Save gives us a fascinating portrait of a man whose work uneasily combines elements of social work with a salesmanship calculated to wrest money from people who have none to spare.