Customer Reviews

The Goods: Live Hard, Sell Hard

5 star:		(8)
4 star:		(13)
3 star:		(5)
2 star:		(6)
1 star:		(9)

 

 

The Goods: Live Hard, Sell Hard bombed hard at the box office this August for reasons I have yet to figure out. My wife and I expected nothing from this movie, and with the bar set so low we were astonished at just how gut-bustingly funny it was from start to finish. Jeremy Piven--so annoying is just about everything he has ever been in--finds a perfect groove in Don Ready, a used-car hustler who needs to impose his will on reluctant consumers the way the rest of need to breathe. He takes an almost prurient pleasure in these conquests which, by itself, would have been funny enough. The fact that he is joined by a team of similarly unscrupulous cohorts lets the movie maintain a comedic momentum which never lets up--start to finish. Ready and his gang (Kathryn Hahn and Ving Rhames, among others) are flown to Josh Brolin's car lot to spur enough sales for Brolin to keep his business from being taken over by...wait for it...Alan Thicke and Ed Helms. I have always maintained that Christopher McDonald, so slimy in Thelma and Louise, Happy Gilmore, and The Iron Giant, is one of the consistently best bad guys in the business, but Alan Thicke and Ed Helms give him a run for his money. They steal every scene they are in, and any remnant of the good heart that Thicke built up as the vanilla father on Growing Pains is obliterated within seconds of his appearance on screen. Their characters make a perfect foil for Don Ready, since they all share the lack of a moral compass and the open acknowledgement that there is no such thing as right and wrong--only winning and losing.

No stone goes unturned in pursuit of a laugh. The movie opens with a scene of Don Ready convincing an entire flight that the future of our republic hinges on his right to smoke on the plane, during which he seduces a naive flight attendant not because he wants to but just because he can. Other highlights include the beating of a Korean-American by salesmen whipped up into a gingoistic frenzy by Don Ready's recounting of Pearl Harbor, an openly racist/homophobic/misogynist elder salesman who despite every opportunity never learns the error of his ways, the uncomfortably sexual pursuit of a man-child by an under-sexed female sales rep, and an uncredited cameo by Will Ferrel whose character dies in the most ludicrous and hysterical fashion imaginable and whose meaningless death Don Ready, as expected, carries as a token burden (however paper-thin and utterly absurd). And in a throwaway role as a DJ who believes that audience song requests are little more than a subterfuge for slavery, the Office's Craig Ferguson expresses a quiet pain and rage without any trace of humor-killing irony. He's like a black Leslie Nielson.

So, do Don Ready and his team sell all of the cars and save the lot? What do you think? The plot exists only as a vehicle for the jokes, and to the film's credit almost all of the jokes are character driven--this isn't a story that relies on slapstick as a crutch. As such, it is one of the funniest movies released this year, and it definitely deserves to be seen. So ignore the naysayers on RottenTomatoes and enjoy yourself. You won't regret it.

Ithis movie is silly at times that you still can't help but watch. I love Jeremy Piven's humor in movies like this, I like seeing David Koechner and the gang. It had some good apperance from other actors as well. Good movie to sit and watch. If you like moves such as Old School, The Hangover, Couples Retreat then I think you might like this movie.

Adolescent humor-yes. Bad jokes-yes. Gratuitous nudity-yes. But it all seems to work, perhaps because Will Ferrell didn't star in this Will Ferrell movie. He did manage a small role, which he typically smelled up. The movie is based on an occupation I don't believe exists, which is a crack team of migrant expert car sellers. They get the call to save a dealership. The movie has some laugh at loud lines like DJ Request saying, "Nobody tells DJ Request what to play." Or "Did you ever have a relationship last longer than a lap dance?" Besides the smelly scene with Will Ferrell, Ed Helms was fairly bad. I loved Ed on the Daily Show, but face it, he can't act. Rob Riggle did a good job as a 10 year old. The movie moves along smartly through the first day of sales after which the plot suddenly changes direction. Piven seriously examines his life, the car dealership is being sold, etc etc. At this point the movie goes down hill. This was supposed to be a senseless comedy about selling cars, not a bad lesson on establishing roots. Had the movie stuck to the original formula of car cheats and left out Will Ferrell altogether, I would have gave it 5 solid stars.

Part of the latest stream of unabashedly vulgar slob comedies to come along, The Goods: Live Hard, Sell Hard is proud of its rampant crudeness and political incorrectness, and it's all the more funny because of it. Jeremy Piven channels his Ari Gold persona as mercenary car salesman for hire extraordinaire Don "The Goods" Ready, who is hired by a desperate dealership owner (James Brolin) to save his business. It isn't long before Don and his team (including Ving Rhames, David Koechner, and Kathryn Hahn) get things moving, and Don falls for the owner's daughter (My Boys' Jordana Spiro) who's engaged to a 30-some year old boy-band wanna-be (The Hangover's Ed Helms, in fine form). The developments and story of The Goods is predictable to its core, but what makes it work is Piven's hilarious performance, as well as seeing old pros like Brolin, Rhames, Alan Thicke, and Charles Napier have dirty, gleeful fun the whole ride through. All in all, if R-rated slob comedies are your thing, The Goods: Live Hard, Sell Hard delivers, well, the goods.

I do not believe this to be as bad as listed here, and my customers have given the type of feedback expected for a raunchy Piven flick (sporadic rated R humor mixed with slow spots - but overall a film you do not hate or regret watching).

The story follows a traveling veteran crew (all excellently played: Ving Rhames, David Koechner, Kathryn Hahn, and the outstanding Jeremy Piven) of salespeople who help save flailing car lots. The raunch factor and one-liners are in full swing, but delivered in just a way that the sight gags and slander are funny throughout. The second and third acts drag a little as can happen in these kinds of films, but the ride of laughter and witty interaction outweigh the semi-sappy subplots. I have always liked Jordana Spiro and maybe this will help raise awareness on her previous work with My Boys: The Complete First Season.

The DVD has nothing for special features. The picture quality is intermittent but holds out during those important strip club scenes, and the sound is adequate. Hope you get a few laughs out of this. Rated R 100% - even in the first two minutes...nice work.

This movie tried to be funny and had a fast flow to it but I couldn't engage with it. After 15 minutes I turned it off. Boring and lacking in laughs. OVERALL GRADE: C minus.

This movie is hilarious. The fact that some people don't see that is kind of ridiculous! Jeremy Piven, hilarious. Will Farrell in a cameo, hilarious. Ving Rhames, hilarious. David Koechner, hilarious. Ed Helms, HILARIOUS! Kathryn Hahn, HILARIOUS!!!

Google it, no...Google it, I did and it said that anyone who thinks this movie isn't hilarious is a ding dong.

Simple fun, with a few legitimately hilarious moments, The Goods never quite manages to reach the point of becoming an honest success story. A thin plot routinely sets the mood for great payoffs, but then proceeds to miss ever-so-slightly with the punchline, like it knows how to be funny but is afraid to fully commit. It boasts a tremendous cast of supporting actors, drawn from no less than a dozen genuine classics, but Jeremy Piven fails once again to graduate into a reliable lead and that front-office vacancy leaves the picture feeling hollow. A grab bag of potentially funny ideas and situations that don't always deliver, it's the kind of flick you might expect to catch on Comedy Central at 3AM. Very similar to Wet Hot American Summer in that respect.

I haven't watched this DVD yet since because I saw it recently on satellite, but that's why I bought the DVD. It's a funny but obscure movie that doesn't get repeated often. I loaned it to my brother and he said it was great.

If you are looking for something with solid laughs, this one never fails to entertain. And if you don't mind a little raunch with your comedy, "The Goods" really sells. Jeremy Piven does a great turn as the unlikable/likable hero who turns a car dealership destined for failure into a profitable venture. He and his gang of aggressive salespeople really fill out a film that delivers. I have seen this twice and caught myself laughing at all the right moments. This is 'in your face' comedy that is unapologetic. Don't see it if you are easily turned off by crude humor.