Unfinished Business (2015 film)

Unfinished Business
Theatrical release poster
Directed by	Ken Scott
Written by	Steven Conrad
Produced by	Arnon Milchan Todd Black Jason Blumenthal Steve Tisch Anthony Katagas
Starring	Vince Vaughn Tom Wilkinson Dave Franco Sienna Miller Nick Frost James Marsden
Cinematography	Oliver Stapleton
Edited by	Michael Tronick Jon Poll Aaron Brock
Music by	Alex Wurman
Production companies	Escape Artists New Regency TSG Entertainment Regency Enterprises
Distributed by	20th Century Fox
Release date	March 6, 2015 (2015-03-06)
Running time	91 minutes
Country	United States
Language	English
Budget	$35 million
Box office	$14.4 million

Unfinished Business is a 2015 American comedy film directed by Ken Scott and written by Steven Conrad. The film stars Vince Vaughn, Tom Wilkinson, Dave Franco, Sienna Miller, Nick Frost, and James Marsden. It was released on March 6, 2015. The film received negative reviews and was a box office bomb.

Plot

Protagonist Dan Trunkman (Vince Vaughn), is arguing with his boss antagonist Chuck Portnoy (Sienna Miller) of Dynamic Systems over Chuck giving Dan 5% less commission on a business deal. Dan calls Chuck out on her dealings and behavior, and then decides to leave and start his own business. Only two other people follow Dan - protagonists Tim McWinters (Tom Wilkinson), who was just let go for being too old, and Mike Pancake (Dave Franco), a young man that just had an interview at Dynamic but seems eager to join the other two. A year later, Dan's business, Apex Select, has barely gotten off the ground. He, Tim, and Mike are sitting in a Dunkin' Donuts when Dan gets a message to go on a business trip to Portland to meet with two investors; antagonist Jim Spinch (James Marsden) who along with Chuck work against Dan, and protagonist Bill Whilmsley (Nick Frost), an obese British homosexual man who becomes great friends with Dan.

At home, Dan's kids Paul (Britton Sear) and Bess (Ella Anderson) are being bullied at school. Paul is ridiculed for his weight and attempts to wear eye shadow to fit in with the goth kids. Bess asks Dan to finish a homework assignment of hers that requires him to describe the kind of person he is. Dan's wife, Susan (June Diane Raphael), wants to put Paul in a private school, despite the pricey tuition, to bring him out of his shell.

The three head to Portland, only for Dan to discover that Chuck is there trying to close a deal as well. She and Jim get along well, have worked together before and it appears as though she's been given the go ahead. Dan gives his presentation to Jim, only to faint in the middle of it, as his wife warned him could happen. He makes Mike go up to finish, but everyone is distracted by Mike's last name (Pancake). This forces Dan to scramble and find a way to get a step ahead of Chuck. Dan starts to lose faith in the team, as Tim is more concerned about finding a woman to make love with, since he's unhappily married and has never been in love, and Mike never attended college while possibly being autistic.

Dan is told to go to Berlin to meet with Jim's parent department Gelger, specifically with Dirk Austerlitz. Dan travels with Tim and Mike and they go to find a client, Helen Harlmann, at a unisex bath house. He makes Tim and Mike wait outside out of fear that they'll blow the business opportunity. Dan finds Helen with three other people. She says she doesn't trust him since he walked in there fully dressed in a suit. Dan undresses himself and gets Helen to listen to him, with Mike and Tim joining him despite him telling them not to.

Dan speaks to Bess, who had trouble at school, but he is unaware as to why and offers her heartfelt advice only to hang up and see Susan's emailed link which is to a video of Bess beating a kid up.

Mike finds a hostel for Tim and himself to stay at. Dan is in a room that is actually an exhibit in a museum where everyone watches him, the exhibit is called "American Businessman 42". He starts to put some numbers together to outdo Chuck. Tim procures ecstasy from one of the youths staying the hostel.

Tim and Mike follow him to find Bill in a gay nightclub during Filson Festival. Dan encounters Bill in a room with other men sticking their penises through glory holes. Bill, later opens up to Dan about his homosexuality and the issues he faces with that, in addition to being depressed finding romance in gay clubs and that he doesn't fit into the stereotypical character. He takes a look at Dan's numbers and says they definitely trounce Chuck's numbers. Dan and Bill also speak about how easy it is to get derailed from your course.

The guys meet with Jim only to learn that Dirk Austerlitz is in St. Louis, which is the guys' hometown. Dan is annoyed to learn this. Jim later tells Dan that while his numbers are good, they aren't good enough to close the deal. The trio spends time with some of the youth at the hostel, being honest and smoking. After not smoking but listening to everyone, especially Mike, Dan goes out to buy "Straight Up Teal" eyeshadow and speak with his wife, his daughter, who reveals she beat up the other child for calling Paul names like "double stuff". Dan congratulates her but explains he will take care of Paul. He speaks with Paul and does his best to pick his spirits up. Only to find himself a bit depressed and drinking with strangers/admirers of "American Businessman 42".

He awakes the next morning hungover but ready to finish something. He joins the marathon and ignores an official's pleas for him to leave the race. Some of his "American Businessman 42" fans spot him and begin cheering him on with such enthusiasm it attracts the attention of a news caster. He finishes the race, poignant as he had trained for, yet had not competed in, the St. Louis marathon.

Things take a turn for the better when Dan manages to score a meeting with Dirk, via Bill. First, the guys pass through a riot going on outside the building where Austerlitz is located. After evading police and getting pelted with paintballs, the guys make it inside with the aid of Bill. Austerlitz likes what he hears from Dan, then what he sees on their front page, and they close a deal, thereby saving Dan's business. He, Tim, and Mike celebrate by gloating in front of Chuck in her exhibit room. They pass Jim, and Dan gloats to him as well.

The guys return home to their respective loved ones. Mike rejoins his friends from the special home and boasts his multiple "explers" in Berlin. Tim reunites with the maid he encountered in Portland. Dan rejoins his family, now confident of their future.

Cast

• Vince Vaughn as Daniel "Dan" Trunkman
• Tom Wilkinson as Timothy McWinters
• Dave Franco as Mike Pancake
• Sienna Miller as Charlene "Chuck" Portnoy
• June Diane Raphael as Susan Trunkman
• Ella Anderson as Bess Trunkman
• Britton Sear as Paul Trunkman
• James Marsden as Jim Spinch
• Nick Frost as Bill Whilmsley

Production

Filming began in mid-November 2013, in Boston, Massachusetts. In early October 2014, Vaughn and Miller were back in Boston for re-shoots of the film, and both actors were photographed on the set.

Release

Unfinished Business is rated R16 in New Zealand for drug use, sexual references and offensive language.

Reception

Box office

Unfinished Business was a box office bomb. The film grossed $10.2 million in North America and $4.2 million in other territories for a total gross of $14.4 million, failing to make back its budget of $35 million.

In its opening weekend, film grossed $4.8 million, finishing in 10th place at the box office. This was the lowest opening of Vince Vaughn's career, the previous low being $7 million by 2013's Delivery Man.

Critical response

Unfinished Business has received mostly negative reviews. The review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes reported a rating of 11%, based on 90 reviews, with a rating average of 3.6/10. The site's critical consensus reads, "Unfocused and unfunny, Unfinished Business lives down to its title with a slipshod screenplay and poorly directed performances that would have been better left unreleased." On Metacritic, which assigns a normalized rating, the film has a score of 32 out of 100, based on 26 critics, indicating "generally unfavorable reviews". According to CinemaScore, audiences gave the film a grade of "B−" on an A+ to F scale.

External links

• Unfinished Business at IMDb