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Goods: Live Hard, Sell Hard, The
Generally unfavorable reviews
Based on 23 critic reviews
How did we calculate this?
Based on 21 votes
Read user comments
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Movie Info
Genre(s): Comedy
Written by:
Adam Stock
Rick Stempson
Directed by: Neal Brennan
Release Date:
Theatrical: August 14, 2009
Running Time: minutes, Color
Origin: USA
Summary
RATING: R for sexual content, nudity, pervasive language and some drug material
Starring Jeremy Piven, Ving Rhames, James Brolin, David Koechner, Kathryn Hahn, and Jordana Spiro
Who is Don Ready? Salesman? Lover? Song Stylist? Semi-professional dolphin trainer? Ready is all of the above, except for a dolphin trainer. When he’s asked to help save an ailing local car dealership from bankruptcy, Ready and his ragtag crew descend on the town of Temecula like a pack of coyotes on a basket full of burgers. Selling, drinking, selling and going to strip clubs is their stock and trade. And they do it well. What Don doesn’t expect is to fall in love and find his soul (cue heartfelt piano). (Paramount Vantage)
Also On The Web: Internet Movie Database Official Studio Site
What The Critics Said
All critic scores are converted to a 100-point scale. If a critic does not indicate a score, we assign a score based on the general impression given by the text of the review. Learn more...
Los Angeles Times Robert Abele
The Goods motors along choking out enough lowbrow laughs to make for an agreeably nutty late summer ride.
Read Full Review >Portland Oregonian Stan Hall
In many places it's genuinely, absurdly funny--crass, sleazy and morally questionable, yes, but still funny.
Read Full Review >Chicago Tribune Michael Phillips
Sloppy, grimy but quick on its feet, which puts it ahead of certain other (“The Hangover”) R-rated comedies (“The Hangover”) we’ve seen this summer (“The Hangover”).
Read Full Review >Film Threat Rick Kisonak
The movie doesn’t even try to break new ground–it’s shot entirely on location in familiar Ferrell-McKay territory.
Read Full Review >Entertainment Weekly Lisa Schwarzbaum
Ed Helms and Ving Rhames score laughs. But the breakout is "Step Brothers'" Kathryn Hahn as the tough (sales)girl who keeps up with the boys.
Read Full Review >San Francisco Chronicle Mick LaSalle
Feels forgettable, even though, in the moment, it's often very funny.
Read Full Review >The New York Times Manohla Dargis
A comedy without a shred of obvious filmmaking and an endless stream of good, bad, sometimes terrible, often absurd jokes.
Read Full Review >Philadelphia Inquirer Steven Rea
Although Will Ferrell materializes for a goofball cameo, The Goods: Live Hard, Sell Hard lacks a key element that his "Talladega Nights" and "Anchor Man" both had - that is, somebody to like.
Read Full Review >Austin Chronicle Marjorie Baumgarten
The script by Andy Stock and Rick Stempson (Balls Out: Gary the Tennis Coach) can, at times, be a nasty piece of work, and no amount of laughter will fully obscure the gag reflex that occasionally forms in the back of your throat.
Read Full Review >New York Daily News Joe Neumaier
The oh-so-out-there mentality earns some chuckles, but that, along with Piven's preening, gets very trying. A hard sell is still a hard sell.
Read Full Review >Time Out New York Nicolas Rapold
The escapades are tossed off and fall flat, all products of the business-as-usual template created by the film’s producers, Adam McKay and Will Ferrell.
Read Full Review >LA Weekly Vadim Rizov
The few real laughs -- all two minutes’ worth -- come courtesy of Russ Meyer veteran Charles Napier as Dick Lewiston, the angriest macho male anachronism of the year.
Read Full Review >New York Post Lou Lumenick
Jeremy Piven's infamous "sushi defense" for skipping out on a Broadway role is easier to swallow than his performance as a scuzzy auto liquidator who sees the light in The Goods: Live Hard, Sell Hard.
Read Full Review >The Onion (A.V. Club) Keith Phipps
About Piven: When did it go wrong? When did the caustic character actor guaranteed to liven up even the dullest movie turn into a walking black hole of smarm from which no joy can escape?
Read Full Review >Variety Brian Lowry
The movie simply doesn't deliver -- living hard, selling hard and, before it's over, finally dying hard.
Read Full Review >Washington Post Ann Hornaday
Sloppy compendium of filthy jokes and lowbrow sight gags.
Read Full Review >The Globe and Mail (Toronto) Jennie Punter
A raunchy, fast-paced comedy that, nevertheless, is as flat as the tires on the old Volvo gathering dust in my garage.
Read Full Review >Miami Herald Rene Rodriguez
How can a movie as overstuffed with funny people as The Goods: Live Hard, Sell Hard be so listless and leaden?
Read Full Review >Premiere Staff (Not credited)
If you are a fan of brainless comedy that willed with bits that seque magically into some semblance of a plot…then The Goods is for you.
Read Full Review >Empire Nev Pierce
Sometimes this kind of comedy just goes too far into rubbishness to make it back.
Read Full Review >What Our Users Said
The average user rating for this movie is 5.6 (out of 10) based on 21 User Votes
Note: User votes are NOT included in the Metascore calculation.
sage s gave it a1:
This movie is terrible i walked out in the first 30 min of the movie because of stupidness nudity and overcurseing and only two mild laffs.
C.B. gave it a2:
I wanted to like this movie so bad, but wow did it suck. Shame on Ferrell/McKay for this turd.
Elaine B gave it a1:
Pathetic and gross, but there were a couple of younger guys in the audience laughing occasionally. Very lowbrow and totally brainless. How could Jeremy Priven sink so low and what was James Brolin doing in this thing? I saw him on "The View" promoting it and talking about how he and Barbra Streisand choose their movies carefully. Guess not, Jimbo!!
Chad S. gave it a4:
"The Goods: Live Hard, Sell Hard" is the sort of slack movie where the comic bits take precedence over the storyline. As a result, the characters have the substance of cardboard, but in this case, the cardboard is interesting because it's made of archetypes. Don Ready(Jeremy Piven) and his associates are badass used car salesmen for hire, who could only exist in the movie world. Put them on horses and the allusion to Westerns become more obvious. But still, a vestige of the cowboy survives, even in the modern trappings of an airplane, as Don lights up a cigarette like the Marlboro man. Don is a descendant of your classic Western hero; he has no place to call home; he's a wanderer. When Ben Selleck(James Brolin) summons Don and his possee into town, the car salesmen lodge at the Hacienda Courts(read: ranch), and hang out at the strip club(read: saloon). Instead of moving livestock, they move cars(the lot is the frontier). Ivy(Jordana Spiro), the boss' daughter(read: the sheriff's daughter), tames Don's wandering spirit when she chooses the outlaw over the gentleman(Ed Helms plays a "man"-band wanna-be), but in the postscript, the happy ending is undermined by the forces of filmic history: a wandering spirit can't be domesticated. They split up after two years. Primarily an absurdist comedy, "The Goods: Live Hard, Sell Hard" tries to be funny, then tries to be serious(an awkward transition since the people are cardboard), when it looks like Don isn't going to get the girl. John Wayne never said, "The only thing in this world I love is [horses]," but that's the idea Ethan Edwards seems to be expressing at the end of John Ford's "The Searchers". Don feels the same way about cars, and in the long run, he makes good on his declaration.
Kgr323 gave it a9:
Next to the hangover, this was the 2nd funniest movie of the year. Me and a few buddies in sales went to check this out over the weekend, and had plenty of laughs from the getgo.
Joe Mamma gave it a0:
0/10, was waiting a long time with all the advertisements on television to watch it. I checked the Internet a few days before release and what did I find, the nearest showing is over 60 miles from me. Between me and there is 10+ theatres, none of them could have gotten it? First time this ever happened to me tbh.
Louis L. gave it a10:
Jeremy Piven and Will Ferrell are comedic geniuses, as they strike gold in this winner. Neal Brennan is one of the best young directors in the business, fresh off co-writing from Chappelle's Show, with Buster from Arrested Development, Ken Jeong, and Ving Rhames as hillarious guest appearances. There were so many good scenes even I'm leaving out funny scenes between other characters. Also, Ed Helms did a great job in his role. All in all, this movie is a must own on DVD.
