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Lovers of a good mystery should enjoy this Will Ferrell production.
Largely because it raises again and again a profound poser: how did such a wan excuse for a comedy manage to attract actors from actual comedies, such as TV hits The Daily Show, The Office, Arrested Development and Entourage?
The latter’s Jeremy Piven plays Don Ready, a caricature of a hot-shot car salesman brought in by car-lot owner James Brolin to rescue the family business. Not that the plot has any real relevance, being merely a device to launch a series of witless jokes (“When you die, poop leaves your butt,” cries a sub-Jennifer Coolidge figure, setting the tone).
Some of the talent – like The Hangover’s Ed Helms – manage to escape with their dignity, just about intact, but the film’s attempts to justify its adult rating become increasingly desperate.
“It’s dying before my eyes,” says Brolin near the start. Alas, he’s one salesman telling the truth.
