“Like slamming your hand in the car door again and again; repetitive, stupid, pointless and painful.”
SPOILER FREE If the tagline didn’t say it enough – this review, rather than just analyse the film, will actually be about how much I hated it. Vince Vaughn has always been surrounded by weak unfunny comedies, and even by his abysmal standard – this is a new all time low. After being introduced to Daniel Trunkman (Vince Vaughn), we’re then presented with this idea that he and 2 others are going to go on a business trip to get a handshake and therefore a business deal that will take his business to the next level. Just from the bio, the film doesn’t sound so bad; it’s only when you see how the film plays out that makes you want to jump into a blender.
What struck me almost instantly was by how unfunny the film really was. You could tell when the characters were trying to make us laugh, but it just backfired every time. There was nothing remotely funny about any of the situations, nor any of the dialogue. At the same time we’re on the trip with the 3 morons, there’s this sloppy balance between Daniel’s work life and his home life where his overweight son is being bullied and his sister struggling academically at school. It’s modern cliches muddled with unoriginal but also unrealistic work meetings and situations. Each cast member, even Vince Vaughn could be doing so much better – it was of course, sad to see Nick Frost going to such a new low. Ever since seeing him in the outstanding show ‘Spaced’ and then further in Edgar Wright’s work with ‘Shaun of the Dead’ and ‘Hot Fuzz’ he’s always been a strong actors, very versatile. Fortunately, even though the film cost $35 million to make, it’s only so far taken $8.3 million. Let this be a lesson…
With no interesting characters, events, situations or themes – ‘Unfinished Business’ is crass, stupid, vulgar and by far one of the most hateful comedies I’ve seen in years. Failing at every attempt to be funny, ‘Unfinished Business’ deserves to be seen by absolutely no-one. The dialogue is unrealistically coarse, the acting; basic at best and the story as unoriginal as it can possibly be. I haven’t been this bored by a film that I came out hating in a very long time… Oh hang on… ‘Nativity 3’ now where were we?…
★
Hudson-Cook 