We learn that something happened to Don Ready in his past that has driven him to sell harder than ever before. Babs just chases the 10-year-old around looking to satisfy her urges, while Jibby engages a stripper in hopes of love. Then there is Frank — he just tries to avoid Ben the whole time.
The second and third acts offered little in the way of big laughs and a surprisingly high amount of boredom. There is a succession of lame jokes and attempts to make our core characters deeper than they are, which all fail.
I can't quite put my finger on it, but coming on the heels of a comedy that works on nearly every level like The Hangover, The Goods has a lot to do to impress. It feels like the cast is pressing real hard to make it all come together and while I get the impression the filming was hilarious, the energy does not translate. Another possibility is that there is a better version of this movie that was left on the cutting room floor. In an effort to conserve some funny and dirty material for the inevitable unrated DVD, they became a little overzealous and clipped all of the character moments. I am sure this was all done in the name of keeping the pace up and the run time down to create more show times and more potential revenue.
Where to go from here? I laughed, yes, but it was mostly at scenes we already saw parts of in the various trailers. I liked most of the performers in their roles, by and large, they all had some great lines. The problem is that the glue that would have made all the pieces fit and stick was nowhere to be found with the end result being a mildly humorous mess.
Bottom line. I would have liked to have had some more payoff for the characters' tales other than the onscreen text at the end of the movie. That tells me they did not know how to end it. I would have liked more laughs and better characters, a plot that was a bit more solid, and perhaps a run time that allowed a little more breathing room. You'll laugh, but when it ends you won't care.
Not Recommended.
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