Rating summary

Movie		2.5
Video		2.0
Audio		3.5
Extras		2.5
Overall		2.5

Taking Care of Business Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Brian Orndorf July 28, 2018

Disney was in the James Belushi business in 1990. Joining “Mr. Destiny” is “Taking Care of Business,” the actor’s second collaboration with the studio, and while “Mr. Destiny” was a shot at turning Belushi into a more traditional leading man, “Taking Care of Business” is right in the actor’s wheelhouse, tasked with bringing to life a slightly oafish man with limited social skills and an appetite for party time fun. While the film is directed by Arthur Hiller, the respected helmer of “The Out-of-Towners,” “Silver Streak,” and “The Hospital,” the project is more recognized today as the screenwriting debut of J.J. Abrams (then Jeffery Abrams), who launched his career (with co-writer Jill Mazursky) with this incredibly formulaic comedy, focusing primarily on creating a sitcom world for the big screen, crafting a movie that’s starving for edge. There’s Belushi and co-star Charles Grodin trying to do something here, but without a firm funny bone to dance on, the endeavor never comes to life.

Jimmy (James Belushi) is winding down a prison stint for multiple auto thefts, ready to cheer on his beloved Chicago Cubs as they face the California Angels in the World Series. When he wins tickets to big game through a radio contest, Jimmy can’t convince the Warden (Hector Elizondo) to let him out early so he can attend the event, leading him to cook up a scheme with his fellow inmates that has the convict escaping for a few days, returning when the game is over. Spencer (Charles Grodin) is an advertising executive offered a shot at career advancement from his hospitalized boss, Bentley (Stephen Elliot), tasked with traveling to Los Angeles and taking care of Mr. Sakamoto (Mako), the owner of High Quality Foods. Accidently leaving his important Filofax behind at the airport, Spencer experiences multiple disasters as he tries to make it to a critical meeting. Finding the Filofax is Jimmy, who uses Spencer’s identity to enjoy the good life at Bentley’s Malibu mansion, even romancing his daughter, Jewel (Loryn Locklin). Because Jimmy has become Spencer, he’s suddenly in charge of the Sakamoto deal, forced to play the role of a marketing executive while trying to sneak away and see the baseball game.

Abrams and Mazursky script something very safe in “Taking Care of Business,” which only provides a surface appreciation of the dual lives experienced by Spencer and Jimmy, who are polar opposites to best emphasize differences, which should lead to laughs. There’s certainly some pep in the opening act, which secures Jimmy’s lust for baseball, with the Cubs making their way to the World Series, and the inmate isn’t going to miss the game. He finds help from his buddies behind bars, slipping by the Warden, who lives to extinguish hope in the minimum-security prison. Once Jimmy is out and finds the Filofax, “Taking Care of Business” starts to take the shape of a farce, but never emerges with particular zest, with the screenplay content to take it easy on the situation, generating a dual experience for the characters that’s not eventful, hewing close to misunderstandings and mistaken identity gags that would be more at home on network television.

“Taking Care of Business” tries to butch up with Jimmy’s periodic potty mouth, tossing in a few F-words to acquire an R-rating, and there’s time with Jewel, a stunning blonde who’s introducing in a tiny bikini, making a connection to Jimmy while thinking he’s Spencer. And that’s pretty much it for sauciness, with the rest of the movie sticking with simplistic gags, such as Spencer taking a wrong turn in downtown L.A., getting mugged by a gang that actually tosses the panicked man into a filthy dumpster to get rid of him. Spencer also has trouble with his wife, Elizabeth (Veronica Hamel), a woman who’s grown weary of his marital neglect, leaving him while he works on his latest corporate mission, soon sharpening her attention when she misunderstands Jewel’s interest in Spencer as a play for her husband. “Taking Care of Business” offers stereotype jokes (Sakamoto is a bow-happy Japanese man with a photo-snapping entourage) and spends a lot of time with Jimmy’s exploration of wealth, where he’s exposed to the good life in Malibu, downing bottles of Evian, taking advice from Dr. Ruth, and buying a large-screen TV off the Home Shopping Network.

With this premise, more combustion is expected, but Hiller doesn’t go for the throat. He keeps slack timing and encourages more uneventful happenings from Abrams and Mazursky (who would collaborate again on 1997’s misfire “Gone Fishin’”), with everything presented in the movie coming off undercooked or just needlessly vanilla. Perhaps the feature was once intended to be a PG-rated romp before it graduated into adult- minded entertainment. Either way, “Taking Care of Business” has a real problem with creativity, unable to retain interest in Jimmy’s sudden corporate education the more it invests in material better suited for an episode of “Three’s Company.”

Taking Care of Business Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

The AVC encoded image (1.85:1 aspect ratio) presentation is an anemic offering from the Disney vaults, with Kino Lorber bringing an older scan of "Taking Care of Business" to Blu-ray. Detail is merely functional when it isn't lost to softness, finding facial particulars difficult to come by when not locked down in close-up. Locations are hazy, without welcome sharpness to pick out decorative details. Colors are muted, only arriving with energy with aggressive period hues, mostly through costuming. Signage and street visits also offer perkier primaries, but nothing vital comes through. Skintones are within the realm of natural but lack snap. Delineation is adequate, but some blacks display milkier qualities. Source is in decent shape, lacking any major areas of damage.

Taking Care of Business Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

The 2.0 DTS-HD MA sound mix provides a basic listening experience, leading the charge with dialogue exchanges, which carry satisfactory emphasis, balancing louder argumentative moments with conversational ones. Prison commotion is defined adequately. Scoring is supportive but not remarkable, capturing simple instrumentation, while soundtrack selections are more commanding, slipping into a rock and roll beat. Atmospherics are passable, bringing out baseball park activity and community bustle.

Taking Care of Business Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

• Commentary features co-writer Jill Mazursky.

• And a Theatrical Trailer (2:02, SD) is included.

Taking Care of Business Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

The only two elements of "Taking Care of Business" that work are the leads, who do their best to commit to anything that comes their way. It's hardly a stretch for Belushi, who zips up his affable lug persona and plays the bewilderment of Jimmy as big as he can. Keeping the felon a goon as the character experiences things like tennis and a helicopter ride for the first time. It's not much, but a little Belushi charm is most welcome here. Grodin has the more physical part, also working his known thespian attributes as a perennial grouch, blended in here with some panic and resignation as the screenplay eventually pairs the enemies up to combat a mutual foe: imprisonment (the corporate and literal kind). "Taking Care of Business" brightens some when these two are around, but there's not enough wattage to go around. Abrams and Mazursky play it too carefully, and Hiller merely puts scenes together. It's hardly a missed opportunity, but there's room here for a proper farce, and nobody is particularly interested in creating one.