The Goods: Live Hard, Sell Hard (2009)

Used-car liquidator Don Ready is hired by a flailing auto dealership to turn their Fourth of July sale into a majorly profitable event.

Director:

Neal Brennan

Writers:

Andy Stock, Rick Stempson

Stars:

Jeremy Piven, Ving Rhames, David Koechner

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Jeremy Piven	...	Don Ready
Ving Rhames	...	Jibby Newsome
James Brolin	...	Ben Selleck
David Koechner	...	Brent Gage
Kathryn Hahn	...	Babs Merrick
Ed Helms	...	Paxton Harding
Jordana Spiro	...	Ivy Selleck
Tony Hale	...	Wade Zooha
Ken Jeong	...	Teddy Dang
Rob Riggle	...	Peter Selleck
Alan Thicke	...	Stu Harding
Charles Napier	...	Dick Lewiston
Jonathan Sadowski	...	Blake
Noureen DeWulf	...	Heather
Wendie Malick	...	Tammy Selleck

Storyline

In a desperate attempt to save his rapidly failing used car dealership, Ben Selleck hires a crack team of "car mercenaries" to ramp up sales during the Fourth of July weekend. Led by the fast-talking, foul-mouthed, self-assured Don "The Goods" Ready, the group has three days to sell over 200 cars. But as Don undertakes his newest mission, and quickly falls for the boss's daughter Ivy, he realizes he'll have to trust more than his cars and his crafty skills in deceit to make a success out of the daunting weekend.

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Plot Keywords:

younger version of character | vomiting | woman on top | sex scene | memory | 

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Genres:

Comedy

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated R for sexual content, nudity, pervasive language and some drug material

Did You Know?

Trivia

Nine cast members in this film have played a major to a small role on the sitcom The Office (2005); David Koechner, Ed Helms, Craig Robinson, Paul Lieberstein, Rob Riggle, Will Ferrell, Ken Jeong, Jessica St. Clair, and Jean Villeique.

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Goofs

As seen from the beginning, the Trans Am is placed on a metallic support in the air. By the end of the movie we see Don and Ivy talking inside the vehicle. However, when exiting, Don gets down as if the car was on the ground, before the take was quickly cut to a next scene.

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Quotes

Don Ready: You give away free hot dogs and put up an inflatable gorilla, shit's gonna go down.

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Crazy Credits

After the credits there is a scene with Don Ready and Ivy Selleck set to music.

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Connections

Features Dawson's Creek (1998)

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Soundtracks

Bald Medusa
Written by Jim Peterik & Michael Borch
Performed by The Ides of March
Courtesy of Ides Music

User Reviews

Exactly what it should be

After reading so many bad reviews and angry critiques by many people who have only heard certain lines out of context and have not actually watched the entire film, I was surprised and thoroughly pleased to be laughing out loud throughout this entire movie. After a slightly slow start with few jokes in the first ten minutes setting up the story and characters, they finally arrive at the car lot and the story then immediately develops into a very funny final eighty minutes. It is a comedy with an ensemble cast of actors featured in numerous Ferrell/McKay movies with plenty of good-natured humorous satire of needless prejudices that will be familiar to anyone who has watched Chappelle's Show and was able to grasp the satire behind it. Rather than setting up one big gag for the end, the movie has countless visual jokes, hidden background details and subtexts, and quotable lines of funny dialogue layered so thick that multiple viewings will still be enjoyable. This is far superior to Brennan's first film, the unfortunately only mildly humorous Totally Awesome, and features significantly better casting, directing, editing, and production skills. I was concerned that it would be another letdown, but this movie far exceeded my expectations and I look forward to watching it again and noticing even more funny things because some of the funniest details are said immediately after another joke and may be missed because of laughter or are humorous small visual details. This type of layered comedy is known from Anchorman, Caddyshack, Step Brothers, Super Troopers, and Chappelle's Show, so if you liked those then you will be able to appreciate all of the funny lines and jokes from the varied and great cast and all of the humorous details carefully interwoven into this film. Will Ferrell was amazing as a character more crass than ever before and veteran actors Alan Thicke and Ving Rhaymes surprise with their character-breaking roles. Ed Helms and Rob Riggle were my main reasons for wanting to see this film and they do not disappoint when on camera, but I was a skeptical viewer pleased to find that the film was thoroughly funny from start to finish no matter who was on camera in a particular moment. This is what Totally Awesome should have been and exactly what a contemporary comedy should be.

Details

Official Sites:

Official site

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

14 August 2009 (USA)

Also Known As:

The Goods: The Don Ready Story

Filming Locations:

Alhambra, California, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$10,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend USA:

$5,642,137, 16 August 2009

Gross USA:

$15,122,676

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$15,300,885

Company Credits

Production Co:

Paramount Vantage, Gary Sanchez Productions, Kevin Messick Productions

Technical Specs

Runtime:

89 min

Sound Mix:

SDDS Dolby Digital DTS

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1