DVD Review: The Goods: Live Hard, Sell Hard
The Goods: Live Hard, Sell Hard
Paramount Home Entertainment
Runtime: 89 minutes
Release date: December 15, 2009
U.S Rating: R for sexual content, nudity, pervasive language and some drug material.
Starring: Jeremy Piven, Ed Helms, David Koechner, Ving Rhames, Kathryn Hahn, James Brolin
Directed by Neal Brennan
Written by Andy Stock and Rick Stempson
Before viewing The Goods, I was expecting a decent comedy. The movie has a cast of actors that have done well in past movies: Jeremy Piven (Entourage) Ed Helms (The Office, The Hangover), and David Koechner (Anchorman), yet this movie just doesn’t offer many giggle-worthy moments.
Sideburn wielding protagonist Don Ready (Jeremy Piven) and his crew of self-conflicted teammates have “the Goods” when it comes to selling cars. Don’s team of mercenary salesmen consists of Babs (Kathryn Hahn), a vulgar woman who’s sexually interested in a 10 year old boy trapped in the body of a 40 year old man, Brent (David Koechner) a balding middle-aged man who thoroughly enjoys eating breakfast at strip clubs, and Jibby (Ving Rhames) a man who, despite having had sex with hundreds or thousands of women (he’s not exactly sure how many), has never had the chance to make love to one. Hired by a failing car dealership, Don and his team must turn a Fourth of July weekend sale into business-saving venture.
I have always been a firm believer that any decent movie will have a decent plot. Though comedies can be funny without a gripping story, many of the best have some sort of underlying storyline that keeps the movie from getting off track or too random. The Goods does have something that resembles a plot but it is very weak, and a lot of events that take place seem so random and out of place that they only harm the progression of the story (or the lack thereof). Expect a cameo appearance from Will Ferell that may lift your spirits and hopes only temporarily.
The movie started off well enough: a few funny jokes here and there, some minor character and plot development, and even a strip club that serves breakfast! However, viewers will soon find that Neal Brennan’s The Goods relies far too heavily on vulgar humor and bad jokes that soon become repetitive and unappealing. The Goods buries itself in hole with exhausted clichés, one-liners, and boy-band reminiscing. Ultimately, as a fan of comedy, I felt a bit let down and disappointed. The Goods contains no supplemental material (such as bonus features or deleted scenes), something that is often expected to accompany almost every movie that makes its way to DVD.
My recommendation: Pass this one up (unless you can watch it for free and your only other option to kill some time is to cartwheel several hundred miles to watch a Nickelback concert). If you are a diehard fan of overused humor and lackluster performances, there may be a place in your collection for The Goods.
Video
The Goods is presented in widescreen enhanced for 16:9 televisions.
Audio
The Goods is presented with Dolby Digital English 5.1 Surround and Spanish 5.1 Surround, as well as English, French, and Spanish subtitles for the hearing impaired.
If you enjoyed this post, please consider to leave a comment or subscribe to the feed and get future articles delivered to your feed reader.
-
Greg
-
bobitoi
-
sticker printing
