The Goods: Live Hard, Sell Hard
You ever watch those cooking shows on Food Network, where they show you all the ingredients you need in order to make the dish they are showcasing, and it always seems so perfect? Then you try to do it on your own, but for some reason, unbeknownst to anyone, it comes out a shell of the original version and is basically edible but not something you would order in advance and salivate over. Well, when Chappelle’s Show co-creator Neal Brennan put this script together, I am sure he thought it would he would be a luxurious cuisine. Instead it was overcooked and dry.
It is somewhat disappointing because when you take a look at the cast on paper, you feel as though it should be enough to at least carry the film over the lulls and lags. But at further glance, it is a recipe that calls for a heavier dose of clever comedy and possibly a better lead, because Piven’s attempt simply proves he cannot carry a film all by himself. It merely accentuates that he is at his best when placed as the Pippen to someone’s Jordan. Yes, the other bit players are great at times in this movie and usually rise up in their roles (i.e. David Koechner in Achorman or Waiting, and Ed Helms in The Hangover or The Office), but that is what they are, bit players.
Coming from such an established crew of comedy actors/writers, the comedy is what fell flat most of all. The plot was somewhat predictable and unfunny, and I can only remember one line that actually made me laugh throughout the entire flick (when the sales team pulls into James Brolin’s lot, Ving Rhames mutters, “Damn, it’s like the bus station in Total Recall). All in all, very poor effort by all involved because you can see glimpses of greatness, very sporadically that maybe in the right hands could have made this TV dinner into a gourmet feast.
