‘Unfinished Business’ Rides Coach (Movie Review)
Make no mistake about it, I’m here discussing Unfinished Business today because of Vince Vaughn. I love just about every comedic role the guy’s ever been in and no way was I staying home and missing this press screening despite the complete opposite of balmy, icy and blistery temperatures we’re suffering through in Austin, TX (I am the Cleveland, OH curse to this town as far as weather is concerned). Given the amount of chuckles the film trailer bestowed upon me within my very first viewing of it I think it was safe to say, without a shadow of a doubt and despite this being of a completely different genre, I did not think I would walk away as mad from this as I did from last month’s Jupiter Ascending. So going into Unfinished Business, at least it had that much going for it, a trailer that hooked me in from the get go and made me laugh out loud. After all, laughter is the best medicine they say. I need all of that I can get in my life currently. And so that’s my prologue, monologue or whatever the heck you want to call it. I digress. We have a movie to discuss here!
In it’s simplest form, Unfinished Business is a comedy film directed by Ken Scott and written by Steven Conrad. In addition to Vince Vaughn, whom I already mentioned up above, the movie stars Tom Wilkinson, the hilarious Dave Franco and my Baroness, Sienna Miller. Now tell me. Hasn’t she been in everything as of late? Oh well! I’m fine with that! She makes life just peachy and gets a hell of a lot more screen time in this one. There’s a couple others rounding out the cast, but I’m going to keep the two in particular I have in mind a surprise for you. I have a strict no spoilers rule, people!
So you’re probably wondering what Unfinished Business is all about, right? I know! I’m a friggin’ mind reader sometimes. I love my talents. Well anyway, Unfinished Business is about a self-employed, hardworking small-business owner (Vaughn) and his two associates (Wilkinson and Franco) travel to Europe to close the most important deal of their lives. However, what was once viewed as only a routine business trip goes off the deep end in every unimaginable way, with mayhem events such as unplanned stops at a massive sex fetish event and a global economic summit in Germany to wearing teal eye-liner, running a marathon and kids knocking the snot out of other kids, just to name a few.
Unfinished Business follows the tried and trued familiar plot lines and screenwriting formulas for success, but while it may feel a bit of the same old to casual comedy viewers, it does serve up the laughs from time to time. That’s all I cared about this past Wednesday evening. I needed a healthy dose a laughs and even though they were raunchy in nature, Unfinished Business helped get me over my hump day blues. So I did say raunchy, right? I sure did! You know what that means?! Penises! Whoops!
Yeah, Unfinished Business relies on the trust-worthy penis and sex jokes to stroke and get your attention. And I must say, it does work! Don’t fret guys! There’s still plenty of female nudity to go around too. I’m just throwing this all out there for folks who may be thinking of bringing the kiddies to this one. Think of it as my parental guidance to y’all. However, just remember this. You’d be a hero to your young kids if you let them into this. LOL. I’m just saying, wish my parents would have been that cool.
All in all, Unfinished Business plays and keeps it safe. That means it breaks no boundaries in doing so. I have to admit, it kind of feels like a Farrelly Brothers film with its heartfelt moments of self-appreciation and raunchiness the next. The secret to success here, however, is not the laugh out loud moments, but the charisma of the leading man and his chemistry with the co-stars, most notably Franco. You can awkwardly feel the energy zapped when neither Vaughn or Franco was present on the screen. That’s a credit to them, but a blow to the film in the B-story category. While you cared for Vaughn’s onscreen family, tell me the truth. You are here for the wild parties and mayhem that the trailer promised would ensue, are you not? Of course you are! And there’s nothing wrong with that! This is ultimately one of those comedy business trips where your results may vary. It wasn’t completely awful, but it wasn’t anything I feel I need to tell you to drop everything and run out for, even in inclement weather. Whatever you decide, have a good weekend!
Brian White
Owner/Writer/Reviewer/Editor, Dreamer, Producer, Agent of Love, Film Lover, Writer of Screenplays and a Devoted Apostle to all things Ford Mustangs (the real ones with V8's!). Some of my favorite films include FIGHT CLUB, MOULIN ROUGE, THE DARK KNIGHT, STAR WARS alongside television shows such as SEINFELD, 24, SANFORD & SON and even the often loathed in the geek community BIG BANG THEORY. Outside of my three lives I live I also enjoy spending time with my girlfriend and our three girls (of the furry kind).
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