Taking Care of Business (1990)

An uptight advertising exec has his entire life in a filofax organizer which mistakenly ends up in the hands of a friendly convict who poses as him.

Director:

Arthur Hiller

Writers:

Jill Mazursky, J.J. Abrams (as Jeffrey Abrams)

Stars:

Jim Belushi, Charles Grodin, Anne De Salvo

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Jim Belushi	...	Jimmy (as James Belushi)
Charles Grodin	...	Spencer
Anne De Salvo	...	Debbie
Loryn Locklin	...	Jewel
Stephen Elliott	...	Walter
Hector Elizondo	...	Warden
Veronica Hamel	...	Elizabeth
Mako	...	Sakamoto
Gates McFadden	...	Diane
John de Lancie	...	Ted
Thom Sharp	...	Mike
Ken Foree	...	J.B.
John Marshall Jones	...	LeBradford (as J.J.)
Andre Rosey Brown	...	Heavy G
Terrence E. McNally	...	Hamilton

Storyline

Jimmy Dworski(Jim Belushi) is a criminal serving the last 48 hours of a jail sentence. He wins a couple of baseball tickets by calling a radio quiz show. With help of other inmates, he escapes to go watch the game. When by chance he finds the Filofax of executive Spencer Barns(Charles Grodin) who loses it while traveling on a business weekend. Jimmy finds cash, credit cards and the key to a big mansion. He jumps on the opportunity and starts posing as Barns. While the real Barnes is trying to find his Filofax he gets in all sorts of trouble. How will things turn out when the two finally meet?

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Plot Keywords:

payphone | filofax | baseball ticket | radio | jail | 

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Taglines:

You are who you pretend to be.

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Genres:

Comedy

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Certificate:

R

Did You Know?

Trivia

J.J. Abrams, who was a writer for this film, makes an appearance as the first passenger on Spencer Barnes' plane towards the beginning of the film (about 16 mins).

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Goofs

Jimmy is in a prison at the beginning. There is a warden and they have prison jobs and it is a prison facility. However, the mistake is that they are wearing shirts with "County Jail" on the backs. A county jail is not a prison.

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Quotes

Jewel Bentley: That was the best safe sex I've ever had!
Jimmy Dworski: That was the best sex I've had in 2 years, 11 months, 3 weeks and 5 days!

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Alternate Versions

The UK theatrical release was cut by 22 seconds to remove strong language (i.e. uses of "fuck") and secure a 12 certificate:

• [Reel 1] Black prisoner during baseball game in prison yard: "Shut the fuck up!"
• [Reel 2] James Belushi as he enters opulent mansion: "I'm in fucking 'Dynasty'!"
• [Reel 3] Belushi to men in tennis gear: "I got a great fucking job, don't I?"
• After white-suited Belushi admires himself in mirror: "Fucking A, man!"

All video/DVD releases are uncut and rated 15.

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Connections

Referenced in Dinner for Five: Episode #4.12 (2005)

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Soundtracks

Takin' Care of Business
Written by Randy Bachman
Performed by Bachman-Turner Overdrive
Courtesy of Polygram Special Products
A Division of Polygram Records, Inc.

User Reviews

can you say underrated??

An extremely well-paced and funny mistaken identity movie that got no credit. Belushi pulls off perfectly the exhuberant, boy-like fugitive who breaks out of prison for a couple days so he can see the World Series (wouldn't you)? The tickets he won on a radio show are to be picked up at LAX, where a bigger pick up awaits. While dodging a set of cops he spots Grodin's day planner atop a phone booth with the note of a reward to anyone who returns it. So he heads to Malibu looking for Grodin who has found himself in the slums of LA trying to get people to believe who he is. He's come to town to close a big advertising deal but loses his beloved orgonizer ("My life was in there!"). In the process he's mistreated by gang members, can't get anyone to believe him, has to resort to help from DeSolvo's mind-numbing nitwit, and ends up walking Pacific Coast Highway in the rain. Meanwhile Belushi takes it upon himself to enter Grodin's boss's Malibu mansion and even assume his job which includes a tennis date and dinner with a witchy female executive. Belushi even scores with the boss's daughter, leading to one of the film's funniest lines: "I slept with Walter's daughter?! How was I??" "You were great!" "I knew I could be great in bed!" It all culminates in an extended finale that goes from the World Series to prison. A lot of people point out the film's inplausibility, but as I always say, don't all films have a level of that? Just ignore it and enjoy the laughs. Though the film does feature the nicest set of prison inmates in history, maybe a little too far-fetched. And when Belushi gives a stolen car to his date, he's obviously unaware that cops are probably on the lookout for it (and he's supposed to be a car thief). He and Grodin also get along too well, but again, movie magic. All told this is a lot of fun and oddly enough was very reminiscent of Belushi's other work from 1990, "Mr. Destiny" (guy's life is altered with riches and adventure).

And a little sidenote about all the dumb brother comparisons by critics: Belushi is his own performer, judge his ability on that alone and stop comparing him to his sibling, please. At the point of this movie John had been dead nearly ten years and James had made his mark in great offerings like "About Last Night", "Red Heat" and "K-9". Be it comedy or drama, he can hold his own and needn't be put up against his brother's incomplete career.

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

17 August 1990 (USA)

Also Known As:

Taking Care of Business

Filming Locations:

327 Winston Street - Los Angeles, California, USA

Box Office

Opening Weekend USA:

$3,620,054, 19 August 1990

Gross USA:

$20,005,435

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$20,005,435

Company Credits

Production Co:

Hollywood Pictures, Silver Screen Partners IV

Technical Specs

Runtime:

108 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby Stereo

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1