Unfinished Business Review

[Westside Steve]

Unfinished Business

20th Century Fox

R. 90 min

 

 

I guess success is a double edged sword. My first recollection of Vince Vaughn was a remake of the Alfred Hitchcock classic PSYCHO. I thought Vaughn was outstanding and that this would be a breakout role for him. Well it was but one has to wonder if being stereotyped as the guy in raunchy buddy pictures was what he was hoping for.

The list is almost endless and that must mean everyone has made a profit. Oh well, as the old saying goes you will never go broke betting against the good taste of the American public. Frankly I've never thought he brought all that much charisma to the table but apparently viewers across America don't agree. Oh well.

 

Actually UNFINISHED BUSINESS isn't any worse than the rest but that might ironically hurt it at the box office. Oh there is some frontal nudity, a slew of F bombs along with some gross out and wiener gags but it's hard to tell if that will be enough to fire up the gang just old enough to skirt they R rating. That's because the main theme floating in this sewer is a fairly standard redemption drama about a guy succeeding against the odds in business and bonding with his family.

(But don't worry, that story isn't really well formed enough to distract the fake ID gang from the rest of the rubbish)

When Dan (Vaughn) is informed he's about to receive a 5% cut in pay he makes a scene in the office and stomps off promising to start his own company. Only two other workers decide to join him, (actually by mere chance) Tim (Tom Wilkinson) who has just been fired due to his age and Mike Pancake (Dave Franco) a young goofball only in the building because he's been blown off for a job interview.

Here's a heads up about the quality of humor you can expect: the kid’s last name, Pancake, is used as a joke over and over and isn't any funnier with repetition. The other partner, Tim has a dream; he wants to get divorced and have sex wheelbarrow style. Yeah I know, hilarious.

Well as it turns out this trio of morons is in competition with the company they left for some kind of huge but ambiguous contract, the details apparently not crucial to the plot.

For some reason the search will lead them to Germany where they will encounter all sorts of almost funny but just as meaningless situations. Well, maybe not meaningless to those waiting to see some slapstick involving naked breasts and penises.

So let's recap. The jokes aren't funny, the business is undecipherable, the antagonist doesn’t appear all that evil, and the situations back home aren’t that serious and are never really resolved. Maybe that's the reason for the lackluster opening numbers.

But there's good news. They've just built a new Cinemark in Cuyahoga Falls and more screens makes it more likely we get a better variety here in the 330. Shout out to Nicki (hopefully I spelled that right) and Ethan.

As for the movie?

 

D

 

WSS