Unfinished Business Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		2.0
Video		4.0
Audio		4.0
Extras		2.0
Overall		2.0

Unfinished Business Blu-ray Movie Review

Horrible bosses and not very good employees.

Reviewed by Jeffrey Kauffman June 16, 2015

Probably anyone who has spent more than a day or two in employment has had one of those moments where the overriding mantra running through his or her brain is, “I’m out of here.” Many a worker has had to contend with Horrible Bosses along the way, and so the opening scene of Unfinished Business may ring as relatively true for a lot of viewers. Dan Trunkman (Vince Vaughn) has been working his tail off arranging a deal for his employer Dynamic Systems and its harridan sales manager Chuck Portnoy (Sienna Miller, hardly a typical “Chuck”), only to return back to the office to Chuck informing him he needs to take a 5% pay cut. Dan lets loose with a string of invectives, trying to rabble rouse the rest of the Dynamic Systems troops into a whole scale mutiny. The largely downtrodden if not outright whipped employees simply look on with signs of resignation (so to speak) as Dan decides to simply walk away from the job rather than to suffer any further indignities at Chuck’s behest. Out in the parking lot he finds two other semi-lost souls, Tim McWinters (Tom Wilkinson), a guy who has just been let go due to his age, and Mike Pancake (Dave Franco), a youngster who just happened to be interviewing at Dynamic Systems that very morning (replete with a box of office supplies, just to make him look “prepared”). With no better alternatives confronting them, Tim and Mike agree to form a more perfect union with Dan in an attempt to teach Chuck and Dynamic Systems a lesson. It’s a foregone conclusion how this largely tired enterprise is going to tick off various plot points, at least with regard to the business rivalry between Chuck and Dan, but Unfinished Business has its own rather strange and ironically incomplete look at various personal issues confronting Dan, including his parenting skills with his two kids who are experiencing the ravages of bullying at school.

It’s the very subplot of Dan’s kids, specifically his overweight and perhaps gender identity confused son Paul (Britton Sear), which repeatedly brings whatever comedic momentum Unfinished Business manages to whip up to a screeching halt. Little Paul is the sad victim of not just person to person meanness, but cyberbullying of a pretty vicious order. Screenwriter Steven Conrad returns to this element at various points throughout the film, offering a bit of parental angst since Dan is busy trotting off to various international locales to chase down a deal and therefore unable to lend a fatherly hand. But it’s a decidedly more dramatic plot point than the bulk of Unfinished Business’ generally rowdy offerings, and one which grates tonally against what is evidently meant to be a raucous, no holds barred, farce.

The farcical element of Unfinished Business may not be the model of smart comedic writing, but it at least delivers in dribs and drabs. After a year away from secure employment, Dan has discovered that his business building skills haven’t resulted in untold riches. In fact he, Tim and Mike are on the precipice of bankruptcy unless they can finalize a new deal, one which Dan is certain is already a fait accompli, aside from signing on the dotted line. That sets the trio out on a road trip of sorts where (of course) all sorts of things start to go horribly, horribly wrong, ultimately leading to an expected showdown with Chuck and a business associate named Jim Spinch (James Marsden).

Parts of this aspect of Unfinished Business have an actual comedic spark to them, including a neatly lunatic plot point that sees Dan’s German hotel room turn out to be a performance art installation where he’s labeled as an “American Businessman” and seen in all his disheveled glory by a retinue of German passersby. A subplot involving S&M clubs is a little silly but still generates a few laughs. Less successful are stabs at geriatric sexuality (courtesy of Tim and a desire for a certain intimate position) as well as a brief foray into drug use (courtesy again of Tim, an elder with a bit of an adventurous streak).

Also somewhat problematic is the character of Mike, an apparently sweet natured kid who in fact may not just be “simple minded” (as the old saying goes) but (as is hinted at) may be suffering from something more clinical like Asperger Syndrome. A lot of the supposed humor comes from Mike’s dunderheaded activities, and while Franco’s charmingly dunderheaded take on the character removes some of the rough edges of this portrayal, there’s still a kind of smarmy subtext here that is at least a little bothersome.

Ultimately things are simply too by the numbers in Unfinished Business to ever deliver completely on some of the more effective elements of the film’s overly convoluted plot. There’s little question that the heroes of the film are heading toward a happy ending, which in and of itself is certainly no problem. But this is one business road trip that takes a few too many detours for its own good, and one whose more boisterous sensibilities don’t mesh with the frankly unsettling issues facing Dan’s sweet kids.

Unfinished Business Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Unfinished Business is presented on Blu-ray courtesy of 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment with an AVC encoded 1080p transfer in 2.41:1. According to the IMDb, this is the rare contemporary comedy that was shot on honest to goodness 35mm film, and the results have agreeable depth and texture, adding measurably to the film's scenic use of Berlin for what amounts to the bulk of the running time. Aside from a few graded sequences, the palette here is natural looking and nicely saturated. Contrast is consistent and detail remains at commendable levels throughout the presentation. There are a few niggling issues with inadequate shadow detail in a couple of scenes (notably a long nightclub sequence). One of the "stoned" sequences offers a few silly visual effects where some very minor banding can be observed.

Unfinished Business Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

Unfinished Business features a lossless DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 which springs to energetic life whenever any of the ubiquitous source cues is playing or in sequences like a long party scene involving the three heroes enjoying some nightlife. Dialogue is rendered very cleanly and clearly, and the film's score spreads through the surrounds agreeably. Fidelity is excellent throughout the presentation, and dynamic range is unexpectedly wide for this type of comedy, courtesy of a few scenes like a late public protest scene involving a G8 summit.

Unfinished Business Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

• Deleted and Alternate Scenes (1080p; 30:59)


• Show Me Your Business (1080p; 5:54) is standard issue EPK material.


• Gallery (1080p; 00:58) offers both a Manual Advance and Auto Advance option. The timing is for the Auto Advance option.


• Theatrical Trailer (1080p; 2:21)

Unfinished Business Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

There are some passing elements in Unfinished Business which are rather surprisingly smart. Unfortunately, they're routinely surrounded by a rather dumb overall ambience, one which trades in noise and mugging rather than nuanced character beats. That's probably yet another reason why the scenes with Dan's kids (which are relatively nuanced character beats) seem so out of place in this otherwise raucous affair. The cast does what it can with the material, but Unfinished Business indeed never quite makes it over the finish line. Technical merits are generally excellent for those considering a purchase.