Unfinished Business

Unfinished Business was a welcome surprise. Based on what I had read about it, I was prepared to leave the theatre underwhelmed and disappointed. That did not happen, though.

Vince Vaughn and Tom Wilkinson were amusing in their roles and they seemed to get things more right than wrong when it came to delivery and to timing. The character of their simple sidekick was more than a bit annoying, but it was good to see that the characters played by Vaughn and Wilkinson cut him a lot of slack. In short, this is a better movie than many IMDb amateur reviewers would have you believe.

I found myself chuckling more than a few times, laughing at their antics and the absurdity of it all. This was a charming and amusing film in the end. If I were to guess, then some of the reviewers here may have felt discomfort over the depictions of drinking, drug use, and sexuality in this picture. So it goes. Recommended viewing for the non-church going set.

When the film begins, one can get a sense of the overall humor it will have. It doesn't help that the antagonist, Chuck is not in any way spiteful or vindictive enough, and you even find yourself liking her, appreciating her as one of the most normal characters in this damn thing. Vaughn does impress however, playing that same role as always, irrespective of the screenplay, he has a way with words, a fluency to his dialogue that can entrance the viewer. He'd make one of hell of a salesman – in real life. Dave Franco provides the very few laughs that do exist however, playing a different role but carrying it well, as the heartbeat to this movie.

Unfinished Business is more of a small comedy that flopped in theaters and will be forgotten most likely. Scott's inclination for mawkish poignancy falls flat too, as attempting to be profound is not something the filmmaker has earned at all. There was more nudity and graphic nudity than one would expect from a film as this, but since it did have an R rated, it made sense.

Vince Vaughn has a long history of playing the lovable loser, and quite frankly he does it well. He's non-threatening, not charismatic enough to be overbearing and has his moments. Here he plays the same character doing the best by his friends and family and (Insert generic Hollywood plot here) By that you may think I didn't enjoy Unfinished Business and that wouldn't be accurate. The problem with Unfinished Business is that its so very very extra-ordinarily cookie cutter. Namely you will know exactly whats coming next and will bring nothing to the table that you haven't seen before......and done better.

Unfinished Business is harmless, Tom Wilkinson is great as always and equally so Dave Franco plays his usual heartbreakingly annoying role.

There are laughs to be had including solid out loud ones for me but the whole thing feels very played out and luck luster.

This is fine as a crash out with the other half when there is nothing better on the box-esque movie, but to go out of your way and watch it? You can do a great deal better.

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If you saw the trailers for this movie like I did and are expecting a non-stop out of control European cocaine and hookers party with the famous motor mouth himself, sadly, that movie does not exist.

However, what does exist is a very light little comedy about some outsiders and weirdos who go to Germany on a business trip. It doesn't have big punchlines and stupid catchphrases and ridiculous orgies. The comedy is character driven, which is smart given that there are a bunch of really good actors in this film. Underneath that lies a very sweetly- natured family dynamic that Vince handles in a realistic and understated way.

It reminds me of Cedar Rapids, in a way, mostly because Hollywood has no idea how to market these low-key character driven comedies. They think people will be bored, and they are right, the Micheal Bay crowd will be bored by this movie and they won't think its funny. But they still haven't figured out that its OK that some people may not like it or think its very funny, every film doesn't have to be Wedding Crashers or Old School, home runs are nice, but so are singles and doubles.

There are problems with this film, the pacing, at times it feels like a student film no one is running, the fact they sandwiched what feels like could have been a pretty believable family movie around this R-rated content, what ever the hell Dave Franco is doing, but somewhere in there is a really good movie, they just couldn't quite make it all work. Then someone decided to market it as Eurotrip 2 with Vince Vaugh and it flopped.

Its probably better than Fred Claus.

Don't listen to all the negative news about this comedy. It's not that bad. This comedy is funny in parts and the cast is well chosen. The small start up vs established corporation is quite relevant and amusing today. The team is funny with the retirement age guy (Tom Wilkinson), the newbie dimwit (Dave Franco who is great at this kind of role) and Vince as the guy struggling to get his new business going. Sienna Miller is pretty and does the ---hole boss well. James Marsden is good as the corporate schmuck. The filming in Berlin is fun to watch with it's mix of old and new and cutting edge. The side plot of Vince's kid being bullied for being fat is a bit overdone. Of course there are some crude moments like any comedy these days with it's nudity.

Overall worth one watch.