6 | / 10 |
Users | 3.5 | |
Reviewer | 2.5 | |
Overall | 2.5 |
Jimmy Dworski is a criminal serving the last 48 hours of a jail sentence. He wins a couple of baseball tickets by calling a radio quiz show. With help of other inmates, he escapes to go watch the game. When by chance he finds the Filofax of executive Spencer Barns who loses it while traveling on a business weekend. Jimmy finds cash, credit cards and the key to a big mansion. He jumps on the opportunity and starts posing as Barns. While the real Barnes is trying to find his Filofax he gets in all sorts of trouble. How will things turn out when the two finally meet?
Starring: Jim Belushi, Charles Grodin, Anne De Salvo, Stephen Elliott (I), Hector ElizondoComedy | 100% |
Sport | 65% |
Video codec: MPEG-4 AVC
Video resolution: 1080p
Aspect ratio: 1.85:1
Original aspect ratio: 1.85:1
English: DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0
None
Blu-ray Disc
Single disc (1 BD)
Region A (C untested)
Movie | 2.5 | |
Video | 2.0 | |
Audio | 3.5 | |
Extras | 2.5 | |
Overall | 2.5 |
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.
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.
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.
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.
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