'The Goods: Live Hard, Sell Hard.' review

Jeremy Piven and James Brolin (Credit: Sam Emerson/Paramount Vantage)

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A California used car lot will close if they can't unload a huge inventory. Sounds like a job for hotshot salesman Don "The Goods" Ready (Jeremy Piven), who, in a shocking twist of fate, falls for the lot owner's daughter (Jordana Spiro) who is, in another wildly original twist, engaged to a jackass (Ed Helms).

The buzz: With "Talladega Nights" director Adam McKay and Will Ferrell (who also has a cameo) getting production credit, and the team that scripted the DVD comedy "Balls Out: Gary the Tennis Coach" getting writing credit, "The Goods" sure seems like a carbon copy of Ferrell's Competitive Moron Formula. This is the feature debut for "Chappelle's Show" director and "Half-Baked" co-writer Neal Brennan, which gives you an idea of how high the humor won't be aiming.

The verdict: Is a comedy automatically a success if it sometimes makes you laugh? No. Is it a failure if its style of humor makes you feel awful? Sort of. Mean-spirited but occasionally hilarious, "The Goods" mostly just feels stale, leaning on jokes about boy bands and MC Hammer and a plot recycled from the already recycled parts of stuff like "Hot Rod." Piven's no Ferrell—his anger comes off as mean, not awkwardly funny—but the movie gets a big boost from Ving Rhames as Don's badass collaborator who loves James Van Der Beek and has never "made love" to a woman, but has 69'd, 89'd and 114'd.

Did you know? Ferrell, appearing as Don's best friend McDermott, claims one of the best decisions he ever made was getting a full-length tattoo of the Hawaiian Punch mascot on his back. One question: Why not go full-body?

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