At it’s best, The Goods: Live Hard, Sell Hard is a comedy about terrible people saying and doing terrible things to one another. I mean that, generally, as a compliment.
The plot is mercifully thin: Jeremy Piven is Don Ready, a mercenary of a used car salesman who lives out of cheap motels and eats his breakfast at strip clubs. Don and his gun-for-hire car-selling crew travel the country taking jobs from desperate used car dealerships on the brink of bankruptcy and in need of a miracle.
Read the rest of this review below.
They find themselves in Temecula, California for the 4th of July weekend. Lot owner Ben Selleck (James Brolin) is in financial straights and on the verge of having to close down Selleck Motors. As a last resort, Selleck calls Don Ready to help move cars and save his family business.
The premise serves no purpose other than to provide an opportunity for people to make bawdy quips at one another. That’s not a criticism as the plot would be no better served by the complexity of Anna Karenina. But as far as I can tell, the film could just as easily been set in a mattress factory or at a high school reunion or a business retreat with minor alterations.
In fact, the film suffers when it tries to be anything but a series of gags loosely strung together by “plot.” After 60 minutes of jokes, the third act is so surprisingly void of laughs that even a funny bit with foul-mouthed gospel choir angels and an uncredited cameo can’t save it. Will our hero learn to laugh and love again? Is anyone emotionally invested enough in these characters to care? Every character is sketched in broad strokes: The Asian, The Racist, The Sensitive Guy, The Nymphomaniac.
I’m not a real fan of Jeremy Piven, who plays every role like Ari Gold and who, by all accounts, is just as insufferable in person. Luckily, it’s the supporting characters who are the most fun. All the “emotional” or “character moments” are relegated to Piven, so whenever bit players like Kathryn Hahn, Rob Riggle and Ving Rhames, to name only a few, enter the frame you know you’re in for a good time. Besides, it’s always nice to see Alan Thicke get work.
In reading this far, you might be under the impression that I disliked or even hated The Goods. In truth, I laughed pretty consistently through most of it. When it works The Goods is a like a great sitcom. Every line contains either a punchline or the set-up for a punchline and while some jokes fall flat, the hit-to-miss ratio is high enough that it makes for a good time.
But I am right in the sweet spot when it comes to the film’s target audience. The Goods was produced by Gary Sanchez Productions and shepherded by Adam McKay and Will Ferrell, the same people responsible for Talladega Nights and Step Brothers. And while The Goods is nowhere near as funny as the aforementioned comedies, it’s targeted at the same crowd.
Which is to say, this is not going to be a film for everyone. As the lights came up and the credits began to roll, a woman sitting behind me remarked that she couldn’t believe she sat through the whole thing. But even she was taken to laughter a good handful of times.
That’s what kind of movie this is. It’s a minor work for everyone involved, made on the cheap and poised to make everyone involved a few dollars. Chances are you’ll laugh your way through it, but this is not a film you are going to remember with any significnce. Truthfully, in a few weeks you’ll probably forget you ever saw it.
Here’s a quick, three-minute litmus test to see if you’ll enjoy The Goods: Live Hard, Sell Hard: seek out the red-band trailer online. If it makes you laugh, this is a film for you. For once, a film delivers exactly what it promises.
6.5 out of 10
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