It seems like most comedy movies now follow the same formula; a deeply flawed character goes through a semi-traumatic experience, learns something about himself, and changes his ways for the better, ending up with the girl. That’s the plot of many movies actually, not just comedies. It doesn’t necessarily make it the strategy you should always follow.
The Goods: Live Hard. Sell Hard is a story about car salesman Don Ready and his team. They travel to ailing dealerships to help sell cars and get them back on the right track. This rag-tag gang of salesmen are always out to get the job done, no matter what they have to do. Does hilarity ensue? Or is this a movie where the trailer is all you should really expect?
YAY:
- Surprisingly enough, most of the funny scenes from the trailer take place within the first ten minutes of the film, giving you hope that this isn’t a movie where only the trailer is funny, and that there is 79 more minutes of potential ha-ha’s
NAY:
- Not that surprising is the fact that most of the laugh-out-loud moments of the movie are the parts in the trailer, but if you’ve seen the trailer they will have lost their effect on you. You’ll also find yourself saddened by how throughout the rest of the run-time the only chuckles you’ll get are at sophomoric jokes; such as an adult woman wanting to sleep with a 10-year-old man-child and a man dressed as Abraham Lincoln sky-diving with dildos .
- Most of the characters in this movie are completely bland and forgettable. Am I supposed to believe that in two days this guy, who travels the country selling cars, is going to fall for a woman that he’s never previously met so hard that he’ll change his life for her? The writers also make it virtually impossible to give a shit about what the female love interest does, or her character in general.
- The only movies that should end with text explaining what the character’s went on to do under pictures of them are movies based on real events. I don’t really care what happens to this fictional character after you’ve ended their story. If enough people cared I’m sure you would love to create an equally shitty sequel.
If you loved Talladega Nights and Step Brothers than you might appreciate The Goods, unless you understand that the antics of Will Ferrell and Jon C. Reilly are what made those movies. If you didn’t like those movies, than The Goods isn’t going to be the first McKay/Ferrell produced movie that you’re going to like. I was really excited for this to come out, as I documented in the Video of the Week entry two Wednesday’s ago, but you can’t win them all. After seeing this it made me really wish I had seen District 9 instead.
