‘Unfinished Business’ VOD Review
Stars: Vince Vaughn, Tom Wilkinson, Dave Franco, Sienna Miller, June Diane Raphael, Britton Sear, Ella Anderson, Nick Frost, James Marsden | Written by Steve Conrad | Directed by Ken Scott
Daniel Trunkman (Vaughn), a hard-working but disillusioned salesman, decides to set up on his own and take on the big man – or more specifically his cut-throat former boss Chuck (Miller). Accompanied by two unlikely associates; Timothy McWinters (Wilkinson) and Mike Pancake (Franco), he travels to Europe to close the most important deal of his life. But what begins as a routine business trip goes off the rails in every imaginable – and unimaginable – way, including unplanned stops at a massive sex fetish event and a global economic summit.
Ken Scott, director of Starbuck and its US remake Delivery Man, seems to have cornered the market in broad comedies with emotional heart. Delivery Man could have been just another gross out comedy about a guy who donates sperm but instead it became a touching comedy about a man trying to connect with his kids – even if he didnt know any of the existed originally! Unfinished Business follows the same path…
Lets get this our of the way first before we go further into this review… Unifinshed Business is a STRANGE film. Not strange in story, choice of characters, or even in the bizarre situations that Trunkman and co. get into. No, what is truly strange about this film is the tone.
Unifinshed Business flips from the typical Vince Vaughn gross-out comedy – complete with flaccid penises and naked backpackers – to a touching, emotionally-charged, story about one man trying to do right by his family and friends. Along the way the script throws in having to deal with bullying, both in school and online; accepting yourself for who you are; and even mental health.
It would also seem that writer Steve Conrad has something to say about US corporate culture given that he penned this film and the Seann William Scott and John C. Reilly starrer, The Promotion back in 2008. Although given how both films have a skewed vision of the business world I have a sneaking suspicion that he’s been burned by big business somewhere in his past! But Unfinished Business, despite the title and the main crux of the plot, is – in the end – not about business at all. It’s about people, much like Mike Judge’s classic Office Space and his current TV show Silicon Valley, of which this film shares a lot of similarities: including the odd characters that inhabit this cinematic world.
To be fair, Unfinished Business is not for everyone. Those that like their comedy politically-correct should stay well away, for this film is filled with the type of comedy that social justice warriors will hate (and probably blog about boycotting and/or the downfall of Hollywood so on and so forth, etc). From Dave Franco’s simpleton “special school” attendee turned intern Mike Pancake (yes, that is the chracters name), to the un-PC depiction of the gay lifestyle – glory hole bathrooms and all, there’s something to offend everyone here. And as I always say, to be so un-PC is a breath of fresh air!
But for all the mocking laughs and the un-PC humour, Unfinished Business still ha the ability to touch its audience, with an emotional highs and lows that will actually make you question your own belief system. You see, for a film that revels in making fun of those less fortunate, it sure has a lot to say about how and why we should embrace all people, all lifestyles, all cultures, all colours, all creeds, everyone…
**** 4/5
Unfinished Business is is available to own in the UK on Digital HD now and on DVD from 13th July.