Aug 17 2009
Featuring Jeremy Piven As Himself
Well, I saw The Goods this weekend. Basically, it’s another starmaking vehicle for Jeremy Piven (who already had one in the underrated PCU) where he plays a guy who… well, let’s be honest here. Jeremy Piven is basically playing Jeremy Piven here. Or some version of Jeremy Piven, at least. Here’s the review, for those interested.
I mean, I’m sure Jeremy Piven is just like this in real life, aren’t you? It’s kind of like Seth Rogen in that what you see in the movies has to be dangerously close to what he is in real life. That’s why Piven’s Ari Gold is so good on Entourage (and probably why Kevin Dillon is having a career run there, given that he’s the less successful brother in a pair of acting siblings). He’s good because he doesn’t really have to act! He is a fast-talking sleazy Jewish dude who drips sarcasm! Johnny Drama is the brother to a more famous/successful actor sibling!
Why is this a bad thing? Why can’t we just have a guy who does a couple of things well, and let him work that for the rest of his acting life? Let whoever do their thing; cast them when you need a Piven type or a Rogen type, and don’t try something crazy like remaking Psycho with the oily guy from Swingers. Enjoy the act! You rarely get a guy like Charles Napier (who was born to play a hardassed authority figure) in life, so hang onto him and embrace him!
I have to admit I fall into this trap too, but mostly when you see a guy overstay his welcome (ahem, Will Ferrell). In small doses, character actors are awesome. You just have to learn when to not overstep when you only have one go-to character (AHEM, Will Ferrell). You can do your thing for many years, just don’t burn through your good will with some ill-advised starring roles.
You’re far more generous than I would have been; I was turned off from the minute I saw the first trailer.
Ron, while I mildly agree, I also mildly disagree. In my mind, this movie was better than The Hangover simply for the fact that every single stereotype that I have seen on the car lot while working there was in the movie. There were the coke heads, the bitter angry old man (me), and the useless jackasses.
Plus Charles Napier has the best lines of the movie. I mean, classics such as “Go fuck yourself you bald headed son-of-a-bitch! I’ve seen bacon with more hair!” and “I never had much use for Jews, Queers, or Eskimos.”
With Charles Napier and Jeremy Piven and the “Like James Wilkes Boothe our prices will sneak up behind you and blow your brains out!” style lines, it doesn’t get better for summer comedy.
I’m just thankful that the useless fucking douche David Arquette wasn’t in it at all.
Dude, I LOVE Charles Napier in general, and in particular he was my absolute favorite part of the movie. Where it didn’t work as well as The Hangover, for me, was the fact there was a villain in the story. That, the lack of jokes in the last 30 minutes, and Will Ferrell’s cameo being about 2 minutes too long.