Working Tra$h

A light-hearted but little-known comedy by two masters of the craft! We all miss George Carlin and wish that he was still with us. I'd like to add one piece of information. Although not mentioned in the credits of the movie, nor in the cast listing in IMDb, the George Carlin character "Ralph" the janitor did have a last name, which was mentioned orally at least once in the movie (the final scene). Ralph's surname is SAWATZKY(a German Mennonite name originally of Ukrainian or Slavic origin, common in North America, especially in the West and Midwest)- the reason I remember that, is that it resembles my own name, Ralph Watzke. People often confuse the names Sawatzky and Watzke. I even considered suing for appropriating my identity, but never pursued it!

George Carlin was and remains a great man of thought of this world, a profound philosopher and a man with infinite and very original humor. Here, he is just an actor, in a small, sympathetic role, in a movie without too big claims. The best part I've seen Ben Stiller. And Leslie Hope is sexy!

Every once in a while there comes a movie who's title could be used as a review for the movie. This is that movie.

I can't tell you that much about Working Trash being that I turned it off after about 20 minutes from the sheer agony it was causing me and the others in the room watching it. Yes this movie may have Ben Stiller, George Carlin and even voice of Homer Simpson (Dan Castellaneta), but none of them had a hope of helping save this.

I had trouble when I tried to categorize this film. Apparently blockbuster claims it is a comedy. The only joke here is that this movie made it on to the shelf.

"Working Trash" is watchable for the interesting pairing of George Carlin and Ben Stiller. Unfortunately the script, which has a promising premise, is underdeveloped, especially in regards to believability. The theme is somewhat similar to "Trading Places", however the result is inferior. Then again, this is a TV movie, so expectations should be less, and on that note, I suppose it delivers enough chuckles. Supporting roles by Buddy Ebson, and Michael J. Pollard are another plus. It is almost worth seeing just for some of George Carlin's outlandish costumes. Don't expect miracles and you might enjoy it. - MERK

Working Trash is a nice little story of two janitors who decide to play the stock market. George Carlin takes top billing as Ralph, an old school janitor who has been with the company for 23 years. A very young Ben Stiller co-stars as Freddy Novak, a young guy who applied to become a stock broker but they gave him a job as a janitor, so he could work his way up and who nobody would take seriously, due to his lack of experience and education.

One day while Ralph and Freddy are working, they come across some confidential information concerning a stock that is about to hit big. Freddy realizes that it is a crime called insider trading but Ralph talks him into it, in order to pay off his debt to the mafia. Anyhow, the two janitors kept playing the market and making a lot of money, which drew the attention of their superiors, who ended up firing both men. Of course, there is some funny stuff going on at the top and Freddy and Ralph have to find a way to get their jobs back.

This was a good early effort for Stiller and I think recreating the team of Stiller and Carlin might be a better idea nowadays than before, now that they could get a better script to work with. Regardless, this is a nice story the whole family could watch without fear of something inappropriate popping up. I give this 7 of 10 stars.