Jet Lag

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.

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.

This movie is superficial. The jokes are marginally funny. There were nude scenes. The plot is somewhat predictable, a story of a underdog who eventually pulled it off with persistency and heart despite numeral setbacks. However, I for one can relate to the characters, a lot. I watched the movie on HBO on a Friday night after a long day of work as a small business owner. On this day, I bid on a project of a client who really likes our work but seldom gives projects because of our small size. Later I was told that another client was not happy with the frequency of our communication - a large company's VPs have meeting with her on a daily basis. With about a million things to take care of everyday, I can't imagine to have time to call her everyday just to chat. If you have struggles as a small business owner, which I am sure each has, you will like this movie because you feel that the main character is part of you. You try so hard for your family and your employees, whose livelihood depend on you. So the movie struck me on a day filled with some success and some setback at the same time, a typical day of my life. Who can't say that's not how life is no matter what you do. So the spirit of the character is contagious, and can struck you deep. The movie appears to be superficial. But when you think about it, and relate it to your life, it is not that superficial. In fact, it provoked some deep emotions.

This film tells the story of a man who impulsively decides to start his own company, because he refuses to take a 5% pay cut from his boss. He hires a makeshift team of two, and together they try to win a contract against his former employer.

"Unfinished Business" is clearly a popcorn film that I'll forget about in a few months. It has a rather silly story, with characters that are quite inept. They keep running into unlikely scenarios, such as going to a gay festival and living in a reality art. I guess that is part of the fun. I think Dave Franco's character stands out the most, because his character is intellectually challenged, and yet he keeps a positive attitude towards life. I think "Unfinished Business" provides adequate brain-off entertainment.

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.