Movie Breakdown: Unfinished Business

People are doing traditional-style reviews all over the web, so we decided to try something different.  In each “breakdown” we’ll take a look at what a film’s marketing led us to believe, how the movie actually played, and then what we learned from it all.  Read on!

The Impression:

Three guys go on a business trip.  The trailers have done well to make the movie not look funny at all.

The Reality:

If you take a solid look at Unfinished Business, you’ll notice it does have the right pieces.  There’s an accomplished cast (Vince Vaughn, Tom Wilkinson, Dave Franco, Sienna Miller, Nick Frost and others) and a solid premise that follows three guys as they work hard to try and save their business.  Also, the film has a big ole heart.  Vaughn’s Dan Trunkman is simply on a mission to do right by his employees and his family, Franco’s Mike Pancake is a loveable dolt and Wilkinson’s Timothy McWinters is an old man who just wants to find true love.  It’s all so sweet!  And, unfortunately, woefully unfunny.  I’m all for any comedy that wants to stray away from being mean-spirited, but it at least has to be chuckle-worthy, and Unfinished Business just isn’t packing in that department.  I barely laughed at all.  It was good to see a “nice” comedy, but the lack of laughs really made for a tedious time.

If you’re hoping to see something that will crack you up this weekend, your best bet is still Fifty Shades Of Grey.

The Lesson:

Always make sure “funny” is on the list of ingredients for your comedy.