“Unfinished Business” (2015) Hits a New Low in Comedies (Part I of II)
(2/10)
I think “Unfinished Business” (2015) is intended to be a comedy.
I make this statement based on the film’s poster, which has stars Vince Vaughn, Tom Wilkinson and Dave Franco in ridiculous poses. I sense this must be the case, because the film places its main characters in one preposterous situation after another. I think this must be correct, since the film is described as a “comedy” in every description I’ve read of it.
In fact, about the only thing that does not lead me to this conclusion is the number of times I laughed, which unfortunately is the only thing that matters in a comedy.
The movie is in trouble from the very first scene. Dan Trunkman (Vince Vaughn) is engaged in a shouting match with her boss Chuck Portnoy (Sienna Miller) because he brought in a big deal and she’s screwing him over the commission. I can tell Vaughn is trying to be funny because he mixes his usual sarcasm with over-the-top acting. I didn’t even crack a chuckle.
After the fight, Trunkman has had enough and leaves Dynamic Systems to start his own company with Timothy McWinters (Wilkinson) and Mike Pancake (Franco). A year later, the three are in a fight for the company’s survival, needing to win a key deal against Dynamic by hopping around the world on a business trip.
Yes, Franco’s character has the last name “Pancake,” as in something one has for breakfast. This is the set up for a joke in which Trunkman asks Pancake to not say his full name when he introduces himself because when he does, his last name is all that the clients will want to talk about. Pancake does exactly that, clients respond exactly as predicted and there’s not a single laugh in the entire payoff.
Sadly, this lame joke is pure gold compared to other gags in the film.
The trio ends up in Germany, and the joke is that Pancake rents a car with navigation that repeats the same phrase in German. Trunkman goes to a spa, and the joke is that he strips naked in front of a female executive of a supplier so he can secure more favorable terms. McWinters is looking to divorce his wife, and the joke is that he loves prostitutes dressed as maids. Trunkman checks into a cheap hotel, and the joke is that the room is a transparent exhibit named “American Businessman 42” in an art museum. Through all this, I didn’t laugh once.
(Continued to Part II)
