UNFINISHED BUSINESS

2014 / Director. Ken Scott.
Review by Glenn Cochrane.

The only way to approach a Vince Vaughn film is with low expectations. That is not to undermine his talent but rather implies that he has strengths and doesn't always play to them. Often the wrong film will expose his weaknesses and make him an easy target. Many consider him a one-trick pony with limited range. I do agree that his range is somewhat limited but I don't think that he's given enough credit for the great things he puts out. He has re-teamed with his DELIVERY MAN director, Ken Scott, for UNFINISHED BUSINESS. The film is an odd combination of PLANES, TRAINS & AUTOMOBILES and THE HANGOVER. Vaughn plays a business man who walks away from his job, Jerry Maguire-style. He takes a fellow colleague with him who has been retrenched due to age and he gets stuck with a dim-witted tag along with the IQ of a goldfish. Together the three of them spend a year trying to build a new business, which directly competes with the former firm. They find themselves on the cusp of a big deal and set off around the world to seal it with a hand-shake. Of course being a comedy of errors, everything goes wrong and they end up in various predicaments. There is little that is new in this film but it is nicely grounded with a humble decorum and genuine sweetness. I found myself laughing out loud throughout the film while many fellow movie-goers around me kept silent. I kept wondering if they were even watching. I first considered Dave Franco's idiot character to be detrimental to the story and did think that he was going "full retard"... but his character becomes endearing and definitely has his place. Tom Wilkinson is wonderful as the 67 year old with an unattainable appetite for sex. He plays it nicely and resists the urge to become a caricature. And then there's Vincent Vaughn who does what he does best. He's the crass and cocky nice guy who holds it all together. He plays the stalwart leader to perfection and his character's backstory gives the film a lot of heart. What surprised me the most was the strong focus on themes of bullying, and how to deal with bullies. While this was an ongoing issue throughout the film it was never quite resolved, which was disappointing but I give full kudos for incorporating it with the right amount of seriousness and sincerity. UNFINISHED BUSINESS won't win any awards and it's likely to register low on many lists ... but I got a real kick out of it. Very nicely handled as far as I'm concerned. 

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