Unfinished Business
Dustin Chase
If you want to know what’s wrong with American comedies, look no further than the latest buddy film starring Vince Vaughn. I might sound like a broken record, but these films apparently have an imaginary check list that requires a drug sequence, separate male and female genitalia exposures, grotesque sex sequences, a car crash and characters with an almost unattainable goal. “The Hangover”, “21 Jump Streep”, “The Interview”, “This is the End”…. I could go on, all these films are exactly the same in their conception. The opening sequence where Vaughn’s character calls out his female boss (Miller) perked my interest, but it was all downhill from there.
When Dan Trunkman (Vaughn) walks out on his job to start his own company, he feels empowered as he hires two other deserters in the parking lot. After a year in business, Apex Select with a team of three, workout of a local Duncan Donuts since they can’t afford an office. Trunkman stresses the importance to Mike Pancake (Franco) and Tim McWinters (Wilkinson) of landing this deal he has been working on for months, it’s make it or break it time. At home Dan is dealing with a cyber-bullied overweight teen who spends too much time online, a daughter who hates school and a wife who needs more attention than she is getting. When the guys take their first official business trip representing Apex they are shocked to realize they are up against none other than their former employer.
Seems to have studied so well to make sure it has the same elements of all the other forgettable raunchy comedies.
Screenwriter Steve Conrad pens his first major feature film while director Ken Scott reteams with Vaughn after “Delivery Man”. Scott has made 4 films total, two of them were the same (“Starbuck”) just in different languages. There are a handful of morally righteous scenes in “Unfinished Business” where Dan talks about bullying to his children, work ethic he displays in trying to take care of his family, however those scenes are embedded between a glory hole sequence showcasing three male members, a German sauna featuring nude woman, a sex maid and various drug and alcohol scenes. Whatever moral high ground the filmmakers thought might balance out the vulgarity is completely lost.
Vince Vaughn who took a year off because he was unhappy with the scripts he was reading, returns to the exact same type of role he always plays. Just as he did in “Neighbors”, Franco pulls the erection gag again, playing a very slow person with lots of mental impairments. Wilkinson’s acting talent is completely playing the dirty old man looking for one last hurrah. James Marsden is essentially playing a tamer Chris Pine from “Horrible Bosses 2”. Sienna Miller (“American Sniper”, “Foxcatcher”) is the only member who isn’t type cast, she plays wildly against type as the vindictive and ruthless former employer who goes to great lengths proving she is just one of the men. “Unfinished Business” offers nothing new to the gene it seems to have studied so well to make sure it has the same elements of all the other forgettable raunchy comedies.
Final Thought
Unfunny Business