Unfinished Business, film review: Goofy comedy opts for jokes over meaningful characterisation

(15) Ken Scott, 91 mins. Starring: Vince Vaughn, Tom Wilkinson, James Marsden

Vince Vaughn in ‘Unfinished Business’

Vince Vaughn would make an excellent Willy Loman in a revival of Death of a Salesman. Here, he has the presence, charm, desperation and sense of yearning that characterise Arthur Miller's doomed anti-hero.

Unfortunately, this is a very goofy comedy with a script that opts for jokes about glory holes and penis sizes over meaningful characterisation.

Vaughn plays Dan Trunkman, a salesman who walks out on his company after his hard-nosed boss Chuck Portnoy (a scene-stealing cameo from the excellent Sienna Miller) threatens to cut his pay. He forms his own sales outfit with 67-year-old Timothy McWinters (Tom Wilkinson) and youthful nincompoop Mike Pancake (Dave Franco).

A year and several random plot twists later, the team head to Germany to clinch the deal that might save the business. Cue lots of excruciating scenes in beer halls, gay nightclubs, naked saunas and hotels that double as art installations.