Business fun, despite its flaws
FILM | Chuck Koplinski
There are some films that get past your better judgment. These are called “guilty pleasures,” movies that you can’t really defend from a critical point of view yet you enjoy despite the fact that you know you’re watching isn’t what is usually labeled “good.” We all have them – songs that lurk on your iPod playlist that you shuffle away from whenever you think someone may hear your music, which is turned up way too loud in order to accommodate your dancing. (Barry Manilow fans – you know who you are…) And there are those movies that you love only to realize that you must be the only one to have that feeling when you express your admiration for it, and you’re met with looks from friends and colleagues that can only be interpreted as, “Have you lost your mind?” followed by whispered conversations that obviously are about whether you’re capable of being part of a responsible society.
I am going to risk such condemnation by saying that I enjoyed Ken Scott’s Unfi nished Business. Note, I said I “enjoyed” it, not that I thought it was a fine piece of filmmaking or that I would necessarily recommend it, simply that I laughed quite a few times while watching this odd, 90-minute comedy while recognizing that the word “classic” will never be used to describe it. It’s confused in its intent, it features a respected actor who must have simply wanted to cross “Make a bad movie with Vince Vaughn” off his bucket list, it has an inexplicable character that’s borderline offensive, and at times contains some of the filthiest things you’re likely to see on the big screen this year. Oh, it also contains a heart-warming message about the importance of family as well. Yep, it’s a mess, and yet… Vaughn is Dan Trunkman, a sales associate for a company that specializes in waste metal, and he’s tired of being treated like a faceless cog in the machine, particularly by his immediate superior Chuck (Sienna Miller), a driven woman whose ruthless nature suggests she goes out of her way to fit in with the men in her firm. Pushed to the limit one day, Trunkman quits, declaring he will start his own business and asks anyone who’s fed up like him to follow him out the door. His Jerry Maguire move doesn’t work out quite as well as he’d hoped as he ends up being saddled with Tim McWinters (Tom Wilkinson), a worn-down associate who’s been let go for having the misfortune of being in his 60’s, and Mike Pancake (David Franco), a young go-getter who’s in his own little world.
Needless to say, Trunkman’s dream barely gets off the ground and a year later the fate of his business and his two associates all depends on whether or not he can close a big deal, which he’s on the verge of doing. Problem is, Chuck shows up at the last minute to put the kibosh on that and before you know it, the sad sack trio are headed to Berlin to try to beat her to the punch and pitch their proposal directly to the corporation’s bigwig.
Of course, madcap adventures ensue as these crude Americans find themselves adrift in a more permissive European society. Meeting a nude client in a co-ed bath house while they remain attired in business suits is mild when compared to a later escapade that finds them in a gay nightclub in which Trunkman and Pancake meet strangers by talking to them as they display their wares in well-placed bathroom glory holes. Oh no, this is not for the meek or anyone with a modicum of good taste, and yet Vaughn’s nearly deadpan, smart aleck response to all this had me laughing loud and often. And while the Pancake character simply doesn’t work – is he supposed to be autistic? A savant of some sort? – his improbably naïve reaction to the outside world had me chortling as well.
To be sure, I was aware that I was the only one laughing out loud in the theater occupied by five patrons in total, yet that didn’t stop me from having a good time. Nor did the heavy-handed anti-bullying message it contained or the ill-conceived happy ending reminding us of the importance of family or the stupid jokes concerning Mike’s unfortunate last name. Perhaps on second viewing I’ll come away feeling differently, but for right now, I have to say I was entertained by Business despite its flaws. That I might not be able to look at myself in the mirror after making this admission is a private matter I’ll come to terms with later.
Contact Chuck Koplinski at [email protected].
