If you’ve seen the ads on television, you might expect Unfinished Business to be a wild comedy depicting the exploits of a trio of businessmen who get into Hangover-style debauchery while in Germany. But the film itself has a much different tone. It’s more of a hit-and-miss collection of unlucky events that befall its troubled characters. While the gross-out comedy crowd it is being marketed to will be confused, the more heartfelt tone, to some degree, does help it stand out.
After starting his own small business venture, Dan (Vince Vaughn) finds his professional career in jeopardy. The fate of his company hinges on a single meeting with a contact in Portland. With his two oddball associates (Dave Franco, Tom Wilkinson) in tow, they head out to land the deal. But soon, they find themselves facing off against their previous employers for the contract. From here on out, the businessmen make one misstep after another, eventually following their contacts to Berlin. Dan also has to navigate a family crisis after learning that his overweight child is being bullied at school.
In truth, it’s hardly the material for slapstick comedy. Instead, director Ken Scott (who helmed the French-Canadian efforts Starbuck and The Grand Seduction) takes an intentionally low-key approach. While there are a couple of outrageous moments (including one that involves one of the strangest greetings ever committed to celluloid), most of the gags are subtle and result in chuckles rather than outright hilarity. In fact, one of the most amusing running gags involve the bizarre lodgings of one of the main characters.
Vaughn handles the straight-man role well and Wilkinson is fine as an unhappy guy desperate for a new start in life. Surprisingly, Franco may have been given the most to work with of the three as the simple, naive and oft-confused party. He spends much of his time having difficultly with several basic concepts and gets a lot of mileage out of the soft-spoken character’s good-natured dimness.
For all the unusual goings-on, the filmmakers seem determined not to revel in mockery. These guys end up in some bizarre situations. However, whether they’re negotiating at a nude spa, working a contact at a gay bar or partying at a youth hostel, the movie pokes fun with little in the way of derision or contempt. The film’s purpose seems to be to softly suggest that all people have their own personal quirks and that it is best just to handle situations with tolerance and understanding.
Considering the message and the earnest discussions about bullying, the more sensitive approach doesn’t induce a lot in the way of big belly laughs. And it’s a comedy with a standard plot line that unfolds as expected. Additionally, the humanist approach as seems at odds with the business goals of its characters. So as a result, this is an odd little misfit of a movie.
Personally, for someone who walked in expecting very little (or something along the lines of Hot Tub Time Machine 2), the subtlety was strangely refreshing. Unfinished Business is very uneven and honestly doesn’t deliver what most will expect, but it does feature a few decent chuckles. This is a tight call and will likely perplex most viewers, but its peculiarities were actually what ultimately earned it a passing grade from this reviewer.