Now Playing Review - The Goods: Live Hard, Sell Hard

I am not going to lie; I was not planning on seeing this movie. The trailer didn’t do anything for me, and most of the time films of this type of comedy tend to be a let down in my book. But who am I to refuse free tickets to a screening?

And now? Well, now I feel a little snooty for prejudging this movie. And I am wearing my shame face…

But let me explain myself. Initially I was turned off by the simplicity of the story, which is about a team of used car salesmen, led by Don Ready (Jeremy Piven), who are hired to help sell all of the cars off a failing lot during a three day sale. However, now I see why they chose something simple: the comedy is so ridiculously out there. Let me break it down a little further. This is a movie about the people living in this world. Take Ready’s team, which includes Jibby Newsome, Brent Gage and Babs Merrick. First of all, Jibby (Ving Rhames) is a man searching for a woman to make love to for the first time in his life though he is far from a virgin. Oh, and he also has a thing for James Van Der Beek. Then there’s Babs (Kathryn Hahn), a woman who falls in love with the dealership owner’s man-child of a son, and spends the rest of the movie trying to trick a ten year old into sleeping with her. And that’s not even the half of it. There is also a crazed old man with a short temper that seems to hate everything, the son to the import car dealership owner with dreams of making it in his “manband,” and a DJ who refuses to play requests, just to name a few. Basically, what I am getting at is that because of the simple plot and setting these characters are able to be as off the wall as they want without seeming too ridiculous; instead, the simplicity seems to somehow manage to ground them.

In the end the over-the-top grandness of this small town car sales event makes The Goods surprisingly enjoyable, and its short running time keeps it from becoming obnoxious and over done. Which is why I will forgive it for the sub plot that is a little too close to one from Meet the Fockers. Plus a great cameo from Will Ferrell and his back up singers doesn’t hurt.

Final Grade: B+