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.

Weird that so many people did not like this movie. I suppose if you had high expectations, you would be let down, but other than that, it was a thoroughly enjoyable well constructed comedy. At least a 7.2

The punch lines and comedy came off as low key and sort of anti-climactic, but I thought that gave it a greater sense of realism. I saw the IMDb ratings, and set my expectations low, and then looked for the redeeming qualities of the film, sometimes that's all it takes to get more out of it than the high-expectation crowd.

The main character suffers one realistic defeat after another, and sometimes that's how life goes. That sense of exhaustion from trying was clearly pervasive throughout the film, but the main character keeps chugging along and does not give in to the adversity he faces. To me, it created a compelling every day sort of comedy that was accessible and portrayed by fun characters.

There is some gratuitous nudity & lewdness that detracts in some ways from the film, but being thick skinned, it really did not bother me at all. Bullying is a surface theme, but really it's "being there" for your fiends and family that is the real message and the bullying is sort of mentioned as a mechanism to show adversity and rising above it with the people we love. What's not to like about that? Bunch of "nose in the air" stiffs didn't get it, so what.

Very watchable "b" comedy that does not try and over-achieve. Good movie for a quiet evening where you don't want to think too much. Anyone can highbrow this film and put it down, but it has tangible qualities that do not make it and idiotic "dumb & dumber" type film.

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.

A comedy comprised of equal parts heart, brains and soul, "Unfinished Business" is so low-keyed and laid-back in its humor that it's practically guaranteed to get lost amidst all the crasser and flashier items that Hollywood has to offer.

The movie reminds us, too, of just how nuanced and instinctive an actor Vince Vaughn can be when he's given material worthy of his talents (check out 1998's unforgettable "Return to Paradise" for definitive proof of this assertion). Vaughn stars as Dan Trunkman, a harried St. Louis businessman and father of two who feels so unappreciated by the firm he works for that he decides to strike out on his own and start his own company. The problem is he's saddled with two less-than-impressive employees to help get the business off the ground: a 67-year-old associate named Tim McWinters (Tom Wilkinson), and a baby-faced neophyte with the giggle-inducing name of Mike Pancake (Dave Franco) whose infectious smile and childlike eagerness at least partially make up for his lack of experience, social graces and smarts. While Dan and his merry band of social misfits try and land a major account in Europe, Dan also faces crises back home with his overweight son and hyper-sensitive daughter who are struggling with issues of self-image and bullying.

It's hard to imagine that we'll encounter a more purely likable character at the movies this year than Mike Pancake. Indefatigable, perpetually smiling and almost pathologically eager to please, Michael represents all of us who are just trying to find validation and acceptance from a world that is all too often looking for ways to marginalize us or put us down. And Franco plays the role with the perfect mixture of unaffected simplicity and pathos to make us care deeply about the character.

The script by Steven Conrad is so self-assured and knowing in its reflection of human nature - especially in those moments of off-the- wall surrealism that come seemingly out of nowhere - that its lapses into crassness and vulgarity are all the more painful and regrettable when they come along. But those occasions are few and far between, and the movie has some endearing things to say about the power of team work, self-esteem and unconquerable determination in getting us the things we need and want out of life.

Directed by Ken Scott, "Unfinished Business" is a scruffy, underdog of a movie that may not be perfect but, thanks to its innate sweetness and delightful performances, certainly gets you in its corner rooting it on.