Susan Granger’s review of “Unfinished Business” (20th Century-Fox)
As extensively shown in the previews, St. Louis exec Dan Trunkman (Vince Vaughn) feels such antipathy toward his bullying boss, Chuck Portnoy (Sienna Miller), that he storms out of the corporate office and decides to start his own scrap-metal company.
His only cohorts are aging Timothy McWinters (Tom Wilkinson), who has just been fired, and a goofy, inexperienced dullard, Mike Pancake (Dave Franco). For a year, they struggle as independent mineral salesmen, working out of a Dunkin’ Donuts. Finally, they get the proverbial ‘big break’ – which demands they travel to Portland, Maine, and then on to Hamburg and Berlin, Germany.
Predictably, everything that can go wrong does. It’s Oktoberfest, propelling out-of-control partying, along with a contentious G8 summit and Europe’s largest gay fetish festival.
In forced camaraderie, Dan winds up in a bizarre public art installation/hotel as the typical American businessman, while Tim consumes an assortment of drugs and Mike loses his virginity.
Sloppily scripted by Steven Konrad (“The Secret Life of Walter Mitty,” “The Pursuit of Happyness”) and ineptly directed by Ken Scott (“Delivery Man”), it’s filled with underdeveloped characters and inconsequential subplots.
Dan tries to cope with a domestic crisis, involving his bullied teenage son (Britton Sear) and unhappy daughter (Ella Anderson); morose Tim is stuck in a loveless marriage; and Mike expresses a desire to master adventurous sexual positions.
Ever-charming, Vince Vaughn’s energetic cleverness nevertheless wears thin, as he radiates desperation, coping with James Marsden as Chuck’s slick confidante and Nick Frost as a potential client. Pedestrian is the best way to describe the entire enterprise.
On the Granger Movie Gauge of 1 to 10, “Unfinished Business” is a trivial 3. Watching a fumbling comedy flop isn’t fun.
