The Goods: Live Hard, Sell Hard (DVD)

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“The Goods” is not “Used Cars,” the 1980 Robert Zemeckis film starring Kurt Russell and the late great Jack Warden. Unlike the mini-classic “Cars” “The Goods” does not have a cohesive narrative and is really just a collection of funny and unfunny skits. There are belly rolls early that fade to weak guffaws late.

Don Ready (Jeremy Piven) is a cars sales specialist. He and his raunchy team make their living by rescuing failing car dealerships from bankruptcy. According to Ready, he travels 51 weeks out of the year. One wonders what he does during that one week off, that would be an interesting movie.

Ready's crudely effective crew includes a saucy vixen (Kathryn Hahn), a tricky numbers expert (David Koechner), and a slick ladies man (Ving Rhames). They are hired by dealer Ben Selleck (an unhinged James Brolin playing his character sexually ambiguous) to save the dealership in one July 4th weekend. The goal is to sell some 200 plus cars in that time. Ridiculous! But a potentially funny premise. And did I mention that Brolin is playing gay?

Trading heavily on Piven’s high energy Ari Gold (“Entourage”) personality, “The Goods” is likable and fun for something like 20 minutes. Most of the film’s best moments have already been splashed all over the Internet, especially in Red Band trailers. The main problem is that there’s nothing of substance to latch onto that could help the film turn the corner and feel like it deserves feature treatment.

Unlike say, “Anchorman,” “The Goods” doesn’t seem to have a story worth following. Instead it plays similar to an R-rated episode of Saturday Night Live. Characters drop in and out but never leave much of an impression. And the lack of development and depth (even comically) weighs the film down as viewers are likely to stop caring by the midpoint and tune out as the film reaches its inevitable and uninspired conclusion.

Sadly, the funny early moments give way to unintelligent plot development that feels as though it was made up as the film was shot. Wasted is the cast of comedy A-listers that contribute laughs based on audience perception that they are naturally funny—forget their “The Goods’” roles. That leaves Piven gyrating wildly, at times, playing a weak, shallow impression of his HBO alter ego in his first significant lead role. And ultimately, its not that pretty. “The Goods” just fails to deliver.