The Goods: Live Hard, Sell Hard (2009): Dir: Neal Brennan / Cast: Jeremy Piven, Kathryn Hahn, David Koechner, Ving Rhames, James Brolin: Comedy about potential, which is something this film lacks. A bunch of misfits assemble to help a car dealership from going bankrupt. Simple, formula and contains one of those laughless sentimental endings that is enough to make someone dose themselves in gasoline. Directed by Neal Brennan with an ensemble cast that had no better offers so they agreed to this sh*t. The cast includes Jeremy Piven, Kathryn Hahn, David Koechner, and Ving Rhames all wasted. Piven plays the lead and there is nothing likable about the lout he portrays here. There is a car from Smokey and the Bandit featured in the dealership and the film had the potential to provide a cameo by Burt Reynolds to buy the car. Instead it gives in to a turnover scheme that lacks laughs and leaves viewers glancing at their watches. Somewhat resembles Used Cars where Kurt Russell worked at a dealership. Seeing that car will allow viewers to go home and watch their copy of Smokey of the Bandit thus allowing themselves to see a better comedy. There is little to laugh at here accept that somebody green lit it and provided the funds to have it made. The result is a film that deserves to be placed on the ground and backed over with a used car for not delivering the goods let alone selling hard. Score: 3 / 10

The Goods: Live Hard, Sell Hard is a real awful and unfunny movie. This is a poorly written script that was chopped together without any flowing pace. Given the premise and the cast, I really thought it would be a winner, but it was bad. The humour is very weak and this movie tried very hard to be funny, and most times when that happens it ends up being very lame like this did. The comedy bits are so transparent and telegraphed that when the punchline finally arrives, it's really not funny. The Selleck Sales force is ridiculous...why would a failing business employ so many people especially a prejudiced senile war veteran who verbally and physically abuses both employees and potential customers.The plot was also weak. He was just selling cars for his purpose which was weird. And by the time it happened, the main character Jeremy Piven's character didn't even sell anything. The other characters were so annoying and obnoxious. Really hardly any of the characters were likable. It was just awful and their were many awkward and unfunny parts, like Ving Rhames character making out with a female half his age, and Kathryn Hahn's character trying to get a 10 year-old in an adult's body to like her. Their were just too many awkward and disturbing scenes, not to mention necessary uses of the F-bombs. This could have been better with a better script and had it been longer. Like they didn't show them actually selling the cars at the end. It was rushed.Overall this movie was just bad and awful to watch, what a waste of time

The Goods is an over the top movie, filled with an unoriginal formula and blended in with a mixture of complete raunchiness and high powered Comedy. It shows no mercy in various scenes, but keeps the adrenaline pumped and vulgar humor abroad and nonstop. Its nice to know we can see the always amusing Jeremy Piven in something other than an overrated HBO TV series.Don Ready, a great example of a really likable protagonist, is leader of a group of car salesmen; Baps (Kathryn Hahn), the foul mouth lady, Jibby (Ving Rhames) a tough guy in search of making love, and Brett (David Koechner), Don's assistant and back-up brains of the group.They are called to Selleck Motors, a car dealership suffering on 4th of July weekend. Don promises the owner he will sell all 211 cars on the lot. If failed, the lot will be closed. Typical cliché plot involving the hero trying to save a place, seemingly failing at the end with a minor and yet unexpected (but still expected) twist, then working everything out and the credits role and were left with a questionable movie open for a sequel.The "Going out of business" plot has really come a long way. Much like the film Used Cars it will sure to be a forgotten about movie, but a cheer up when watched. David Koechner and Jeremy Piven give great appearances as well as good cameos like Will Ferrell and a funny scene from Ken Jeong. Although ultimately forgettable, I can't say The Goods is memorable. Though it's definitely worth a watch.Starring: Jeremy Piven, Kathryn Hahn, Ving Rhames, David Koechner, Ed Helms, and Ken Jeong. Directed by: Neal Brennan.

Gone are the days when a comedy with a premise as simple as this, would have made me laugh uncontrollably at every instance of humour. It's either I've grown older and more cynical, or have totally lost my funny bone. I'd reckon that it's more of the former, as I still laugh just as hard when I revisit comedies done by the Zucker Brothers time and again, which measured by my personal yardstick, goes to show that the comedies these days lack a certain oomph. Watching this was a reminiscence of an era that I'm still missing, where comedies really gave audiences some bang for their buck with jokes that will send you rip- roaring.What filmmakers like director Neal Brennan would reckon is funny, is the constant dropping of F-bombs and turning everything possible into a sexual innuendo, be it hitting on the gays, or treading so finely on pedophilia, which I suppose to him is meant to be funny with a female cougar scouring quite unsuccessfully a boy who's trapped in a man's body.The flimsy plot on which the laughs are built upon, involve a used car business founded by Ben Selleck (James Brolin), who has seen better days, and is now threatened with foreclosure. His sales force, made up of the likes of a senile drill sergeant (Charles Napier) and a madcap korean (Ken Jeong rising to some prominence these days), spells doom especially when they lose customers more than keep and sell them something. Hence extreme times like this meant to engage an external, proved consultant, and that's Don Ready (Jeremy Piven) and his team of Jibby Newsome (Ving Rhames), Brent Gage (David Koechner) and Babs Merrick (Kathryn Hahn).Part of the fun here I suppose is how each character has to exorcise their personal demons and issues, especially with members of the Selleck family. For Don, it's the prospect of acknowledging a long lost son whom he had unknowingly left behind, and the wooing of Ivy Selleck (Jordana Spiro), who is engaged to boy band leader Paxton Harding (Ed Helms from The Hangover). Then there's Brent who has to keep Ben Selleck himself off his back given the latter's newfound sexual desire. Babs is trying to hit on man-child Peter Selleck (Rob Riggle), a 10 year old trapped in a 30 year old body. And Jibby just wants to make love. Right. Jeremy Piven also lacked that cocky charisma to have carried his character off, and unfortunately for him too that the last act have him moping and whining more than the cocksure seller that he supposedly is.There's nothing you won't already predict in the narrative as it unfolds and coasts along from joke to joke with its cardboard characters, some of which do work, but most falling flat on its face. Nothing surprising will turn up as you'll see all incoming development from a mile away, right up to the finale. The saving grace may just be Will Farell's uncredited appearance together with two gospel angels who don't mince their lyrics, but other than that, The Goods should have tried harder to live up to its tagline in putting bums on seats - I got an entire hall to myself!