This weekend, moviegoers had the option of watching a live robot, a ramshackle hotel full of British retirees or three American entrepreneurs on a business trip.
Sadly, the slapstick funny-guys – Vince Vaughn, Dave Franco and Tom Wilkinson – fall out of their element when suiting up, making for a film that is easily outdone by its much more captivating trailers.
The raunchy comedy made $5 million during opening weekend, resulting in Vaughn’s worst opening weekend to date, according to Time.
Vaughn stars as St. Louis businessman Dan Trunkman who leaves his job over a pay issue and sets out to work for himself, inviting anyone who is willing to join him.
Recent retiree Tim McWinter, portrayed by Wilkinson, and a young Mike Pancake, played by Franco, are the only ones who join Trunkman into entrepreneurship.
After a year of minimal success, the trio flies to Berlin in order to seal their big break with a handshake. Trunkman then discovers that his former boss, Chuck Portnoy, portrayed by Sienna Miller, is trying to sabotage his business. Que the drama and adventure.
One of the film’s biggest flaws is a lack of clarity.
Their trade involves a metal residue called swarf, which are leftover scraps produced during machining operations. Yet the film does not give explicit insight as to whether the group is in the market to purchase or sell it, how it generated their grassroots enterprise or anything else for that matter.
Refraining to tell the audience crucial details created a domino effect of confusion.
As the audience trips trying to keep up with the film’s relentless corporate commercialese, the group’s absurdities are likely to slip right over viewer’s heads instead of triggering comedic relief.
Pancake’s character development has more inconsistencies than the corporate-soaked dialect.
He is introduced as a cheerful but very naïve young man, often portrayed as constantly confused with his head in the clouds from scene to scene. Then, in the next scene, Pancake makes decisive moves in the three-man company’s sales report, ultimately leading to a success for the trio, despite never understanding what the deal consisted of.
Franco’s character development grows in every other scene, but his inconsistent metamorphosis makes for a distractingly weak transition.
Although this particular collection of comedic actors is known for lightening up a room, the only thing “Unfinished Business” lightens is its standards.
In one scene, Trunkman finds himself in a room at a German gay bar with penises coming at him from every direction—no pun intended. Not even Vaughn’s in-your-face, quick-witted cracks could save the unbearable awkwardness.
On the flip side, Pancake’s adorable innocence steals nearly every scene, and McWinter’s sexual fantasies deliver a few mediocre chops in the film.
Despite the drawbacks, the film is not a total money pit; scenes between Vaughn’s character and his insecure son attempt to level out the crass folly by brining attention to serious issues such as bullying.
Amidst all the alcohol, business jargon and speech impediments, personal experiences that people can relate to made the film livelier.
Though “Unfinished Business” provided a few laughs, it failed to break even.
RATING: 2.5/5
Motion Picture Rating: R
Director: Ken Scott
Starring: Vince Vaughn, Dave Franco, Tom Wilkinson
Run Time: 91 minutes