where: CENTURY 14 VALLEJO in Vallejo, CA
when: Monday, August 17th, 2009
show: 10:35 pm
costs: $9.50 Ticket + $3.75 small Zero ( w/ Barq's & Cherry flavors ) + $3.02 bulk Chocolate Candy = $16.27
auditorium: 12
seat: 4th row, 8th column
synopsis: A "mercenary car sales hustling team" run by Don Ready ( Jeremy Piven ), is enlisted to aid an ailing car dealership on the brink of bankruptcy in Temecula, CA, owned by Ben Selleck ( James Brolin ). In the "meet and greet" with the owners, Don falls for the daughter, Ivy ( Jordana Spiro ), who's not that all impressed by his hustle. Complicating matters are Ivy's spoiled and obnoxious boyfriend, Paxton ( Ed Helms ), the son of a car dealership rival, and the lingering "-querque curse." Don now has a double-barrelled objective during the 4th of July weekend: Sell dad's cars to win daughter's heart. Will it end with a bang or will it be a dud?
who? Will Ferrell has a cameo role.
noteworthy scenes: 1.) Breakfast at a Flagstaff, Arizona strip club; 2.) The plane ride; 3.) The airport; 4.) The dinner; 5.) The Temecula strip club; 6.) Wade Zooha's ( Tony Hale ) family pictures; 7.) The sales lot; 8.) The TV ad; 9.) The riot; 10.) "Abe Lincoln;" 11.) Brent ( David Koechner ) and Blake ( Jonathan Sadowski ) talking about Don; 12.) The "lights out;" 13.) The morning after; 14.) The Junkyard; 15.) The "Bandit;" and 16.) The "after ending credits" scene.
audience reaction: This movie elicited a few laughs from the audience.
recommendation: Save your money and wait for this to come out on DVD.
spoiler alert! Years ago, a movie reviewer made the observation that if a movie shows nudity early on, it usually means that the movie as a whole will turn out bad. This movie is no exception to the rule: A movie that is not only sleazy but also suggestively smacks of age-inappropriate "cougar prowling ...," probably the reasons why this movie didn't make it to the theatres for the 4th of July weekend. And given that lots of car dealerships were forced into bankruptcy within the last two years, it was tacky to even conceive of this movie in the first place!
fyi: I went with a friend, Derek T., to a strip club in San Francisco, CA, years ago. We had lap dances. I wasn't particularly stimulated by the sexual simulation because I felt like I was just a piece of toilet paper to the stripper. Meanwhile, Derek was having such a good time because he ran out of five dollar bills for the lap dances way before I did. At one point, he leaned over and whispered in my ear if I could lend him five bucks. I said, Sure, but do a lap dance on me first! We both laughed at that.
word of advice: Don't fly on a plane that has ashtrays since it was probably built before 1971. Such planes are old and structurally weakened and should have already been decommissioned from commercial flights a long time ago.
tidbits: I originally intended to see the Japanese animation, PONYO, but I couldn't make it to the theatre in time for the 9:40 p.m. show. So, I just went to the Admiral Callahan Lane McDonald's for burger and fries ( the # 12 on the menu ) while I waited for the 10:35 p.m. showing of THE GOODS: ...."
P.S. To this day, my friend, Derek, still owes me five bucks!
