|
|
|
|
|
The Goods: Live Hard, Sell Hard
Too many miles on this junker
Reviewed by Sam Mossman
Published on 01/21/2010
|
|
|
C+
Rated R
Directed by Neal Brennan
Starring Jeremy Piven, Kathryn Hahn, Jordana Spiro, Ed Helms and
David Koechner
Reviewed by Sam Mossman
With all of the advertising that goes into the auto industry, you’d
think that cars would sell themselves. Unfortunately, this isn’t the
case, and when your car dealership needs to offload a huge batch
of cars onto a bunch of hapless chumps in no time flat, there is only
one man to call: Don Ready (Jeremy Piven). He is the man who can
sell anything to anybody, but his favorite commodity is the used car.
Don Ready and his team will roll onto your car lot, teach your
employees unorthodox (and wholly dishonest) methods of sales
and do anything it takes to sell a crap load of cars.
Once in a while, a film rolls along that fundamentally changes the
way that you think about comedy. “The Goods” is not that movie. I
must admit I had high expectations for this film; the promos were
amusing, the cast features some definite comedic potential and it
features Will Ferrel in a cameo role. What more could the movie-
going public need? I was disheartened when I discovered it wasn’t
going to be released locally and its initial release was
overshadowed by “The Hangover,” and for good reason. “The
Hangover” laughs circles around “The Goods.” That being said,
“The Goods” is not a complete waste.
Sprinkled throughout the somewhat meaningless plot are some
really funny bits. In fact, when “The Goods” did make me laugh I
was practically doubled over. There are pretty subtle jokes in the
film as well, and they help to break the film’s obviously raunchy
exterior. Trust me, there is little in this film that can be mistaken for
anything that would be considered remotely “high brow.”
Unfortunately, most of the jokes, while clever, suffer a bit in the
delivery by being overly telegraphed or generally over used.
Considering this is Neal Brennan’s debut as a director on the big
screen, I can be somewhat forgiving. “The Goods” certainly shows
some potential even if it won’t really be remembered in a few years.
And while I find it hard to really rave about the film, I still found it
mildly enjoyable to watch.
Fortunately, if you don’t like it, it is at the very least a short film. Plus
there are enough different characters and side notes that no one
bit is driven into the ground or really ever gets stale. Still, if you tend
to be unforgiving when it comes to comedies and you are craving a
film that centers on auto sales, then I would feel more comfortable
backing an old favorite like “Used Cars” than “The Goods.”
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
 |
|
