The Goods: Live Hard, Sell Hard

(2009)

Directed by

Neal Brennan

Review by Terry Plucknett

Posted - 8/17/09

I went into this movie thinking that I was in store for a simple, fun comedy that would give me some laughs and leave me entertained.  When the film was over, the result, as is the result with anything Don “The Goods” Ready sets his mind to, was a success.

The film takes place at Selleck Motors, a small, family owned, used car lot that is struggling to stay out of debt.  The owner of the establishment, Ben Selleck (James Brolin), decides to call Don “The Goods” Ready (Jeremy Piven), a travelling master car salesman that is brought in to help move cars and make money.  Ready, along with his team (Ving Rhames, David Koechner, and Kathryn Hahn), comes to the small car dealership to lead a massive 4^th of July weekend sale and save the lot from a major car salesman, played by Alan Thicke, and his pop-star-wannabe son, played by Ed Helms.  With this backdrop in place, hilarity ensues.

At no point does The Goods try to be more than it actually is.  You know the premise, you know the characters are going to be quirky and over the top, and you know how the movie is going to end.  This is a film that doesn’t care about the plot.  The plot and the characters are simply tools to create some great comedy.  It is really a throwback to about 10 years ago when comedy was ruled by stars like Adam Sandler and Will Ferrell.  Everything about the film is predictable, but that does not mean it is not entertaining.  The Judd Apatow crew and their movies have taken over the comedy world recently with funny movies that also have a heart and underlying deep concepts.  These films have robbed the simple, goofy films like The Goods from being getting their due credit.  There are a lot of horrible films in this vein that come around, don’t get me wrong.  However, this is definitely not one of them.

What makes this film work is its star, Jeremy Piven.  It is a crime he does not find his way into more films because he owns any character he creates as well as any scene that character appears in.  Without Jeremy Piven, this movie would be lost, just like the team is lost without Don Ready.  The success of every other character in this film comes from their ability to play off of the tone Piven has set.  It is also fun to see actors like James Brolin and Alan Thicke in this, a film you would never expect to see them.  Top this off with one of the top 3 cameos of the year so far from Will Ferrell (the others would be Eminem in Funny People and Lou Ferrigno in I Love You, Man) and you have the formula that makes this film so fun.

This film is definitely not a masterpiece, but it is not trying to be.  It is simply trying to give you a fun story with fun characters that do funny things.  That’s all it seeks to be, and it succeeds.  If you want to have some fun at the theatre, go see The Goods.

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