wreckers is a 2011 drama film written and directed by d. r. hood .

the film 's cast includes claire foy and benedict cumberbatch with shaun evans , peter mcdonald and sinead matthews .

wreckers ( film )

tim robey reviews wreckers , a debut drama from british director dr hood , starring claire foy , benedict cumberbatch .
a complex and labyrinthine film , dictynna hood’s ‘wreckers’ is the very opposite of a gentle cinematic journey , its initial appearance of a romantic melodrama twisting itself instead into something closer to an underplayed psychological horror .
wreckers blends spells of sheer , watching - paint - dry tedium with sparkier inter - sibling stuff and the odd bout of rural rumpy - pumpy .
in a year already stacked with accomplished british debuts , dr hood ' s smart , engrossing and well - acted wreckers deserves to be more than a footnote .
for her debut feature , british film - maker dictynna hood has created a brooding drama of rural disquiet and sexual tension .
the tomatometer score — based on the opinions of hundreds of film and television critics — is a trusted measurement of critical recommendation for millions of fans . it represents the percentage of professional critic reviews that are positive for a given film or television show .
thanks to all these elements , the film is lent a genuine sense of foreboding that is ultimately left unfulfilled by the close .
if films have taught us anything , it ' s that the odds of lasting happiness are stacked against urban yuppies seeking peace in the countryside , and so it is once more in
wreckers .
that is not to say ' wreckers’ is a bad film , or indeed a cop out . it is very much a narrative driven character piece designed to play completely against the expectations of an audience , refusing to be pinned into simple genre stereotypes . it changes direction many times , continually wrong footing us and ultimately ending up in an unexpected , subdued place that is very different from where we started . as a display of excellent performances , artful and tight direction , and genre defying narrative , it is an unusual and challenging piece of film making that comes very highly recommended .
visually , ' wreckers’ is a beautiful film , with much of the imagery at times reminiscent of a terence malick piece . there are visual metaphors throughout , most strikingly the recurring image of butterflies and moths fluttering against window panes , able to see the world , but unable to escape into it – in effect , expressing the growing desires of dawn as her once perfect world begins to fray around her . also important is the sound design , or rather lack of it , rendering wreckers deafeningly quiet at times and giving it an oppressive atmosphere that is only punctuated by bursts of sudden and jarring music that are notable for their interruption of the carefully cultivated stillness .
production : an artificial eye presentation of a likely story production . ( international sales : content film , london . ) produced by simon onwurah . directed , written by d . r . hood .
this is most certainly an actor’s film and the entire cast is played perfectly . claire foy has just the right balance of sweetness and innocence , yet manages to invest dawn with the essence of a real person , while shaun evans successfully imbues nick with a realistic degree of volatility . despite that , several of his scenes in the film are both harrowing and draw real sympathy from the audience .
wreckers is a small canvas , but it contains fascinating performances from benedict cumberbatch and claire foy as a couple returning to their roots in the country . the fact that those roots are twisted , rotting and deeply hidden beneath the surface emerges slowly during sun - dappled days in the norfolk fens .
but hood , to her credit , holds back , allows her actors to improvise and goes for ambiguity rather than vulgar punch . her next project will be worth looking out for . plus any film that showcases an open - topped white karmann ghia has my vote
if films have taught us anything , it’s that the odds of lasting happiness are stacked against urban yuppies seeking peace in the countryside , and so it is once more in “wreckers . ” playing not unlike critics’ darling “martha marcy may marlene” with the genders flipped and the weather gloomier , writer - helmer d . r . hood’s intriguing , well - acted debut draws [ … ]
benedict’s portrayal of david is quite a departure from any of his previous roles . at the start of the film , we are drawn to trust him as dawn does , and as a result the revelations through the narrative become all the more dramatic because of it . although this film is tightly locked to dawn’s point of view , it is the brothers who are the centrepiece , their relationship fluctuating between very mellow , loving , and caring to spontaneous bouts of violence and intense psychological mind games against one another that in turn impact hugely upon dawn .
in a year already stacked with accomplished british debuts , dr hood’s smart , engrossing and well - acted wreckers deserves to be more than a footnote . the contentedly married dawn ( claire foy ) and david ( benedict cumberbatch ) move back to his childhood village in the fens , where david’s brother nick ( shaun evans ) turns up unannounced . we read the body language quickly , and it’s sexually tense .
still , this intelligently shot and edited film has a lot going for it , not least foy , whose pale , freckled beauty suggests something of the young isabelle huppert . she and cumberbatch , who is excellent as usual , create a marriage both tender and remote , a little scared of itself , its bedrock newly unstable .
crew : camera ( color , 16mm - to - 35mm ) , annemarie lean - vercoe ; editor , claire pringle ; music , andrew lovett ; production designer , beck rainford ; costume designer , rebecca gore ; sound , ben collinson . reviewed at london film festival ( new british cinema ) , oct . 24 , 2011 . running time : 86 min .
dawn is the focus of the film , and her relationship with david is beautifully tender , as she struggles to get pregnant . but increasingly dawn takes on the role of reluctant detective , and becomes aware of her outsider status , a city girl unaware of the past that surrounds her we’re slightly in minor straw dogs or hot fuzz territory — the bucolic , charming village that turns out to have less - than - charming residents , all apparently indulging in wife - beating , incest and other crime behind closed doors . much , perhaps too much , is made by the cinematographer of country churches , stained glass and rippling fields . if only this had been pushed to the claustrophobic , darker side , the film would be more commercial .
if hood gradually runs out of ways to bend this brittle character triangle — nick’s arc is unsatisfyingly curtailed as the script shifts focus to lesser catalysts in dawn and david’s marriage — she deserves credit for building and maintaining the film’s impressively musty mood , as well as for drawing a trio of smart , splintery performances from her bright young leads . evans is particularly impressive in a tight , nervy turn that resists the role’s potential for wild - eyed showboating .
per press notes , hood claims to have grown up in an english village similar to the sleepy fens hamlet depicted here , and her film is clearly posited as a contempo take on a grand british tradition of rustic what - lies - beneath storytelling , dating back to radio soap “the archers” and beyond . there are tonal parallels here with ali smith’s 2005 novel “the accidental , ” as the pic mistrustfully regards city - dwellers’ community - minded affectations in such environments .
from the outset , dawn is the clear protagonist , and we follow her experiences and discoveries throughout . unusually , we are allowed no further knowledge into what is going on around her than she is . instead we are privy to the uncomfortable looks and unspoken tensions between david and nick behind dawn’s back , heightening our unease . we are given no further understanding of the brother’s relationship and the reasoning behind their feelings , and as the film proceeds we start to develop a real fear for dawn’s safety , or perhaps even her sanity . she is continually pushed further and further into the tangled and murky past of the brothers lives , unable to be proactive in events as they unfold , and coming to the conclusion early on that she does not ‘know’ her husband at all , particularly when his brother remarks about his violent nature .
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movies and tv shows are certified fresh with a steady tomatometer of 75 % or higher after a set amount of reviews ( 80 for wide - release movies , 40 for limited - release movies , 20 for tv shows ) , including 5 reviews from top critics .
[ a ] low - key , high - tension british indie drama . . .
d . r . hood ' s intriguing , well - acted debut draws shifting lines of conflict . . . before losing steam in the third act .
the structure rambles . the plot sometimes bewitches , sometimes bemuses . the cast works valiantly to keep us caring .
a low - key affair but an interesting take on social realism despite its flaws .
impressively directed and superbly written , this is an emotionally engaging , powerfully tense british drama with a trio of terrific performances from all three leads .
while the drama occasionally overheats , strong turns from the two leads keep us invested in the characters .
with : with : claire foy , benedict cumberbatch , shaun evans , peter mcdonald , sinead matthews , nicola green , june watson , georgie smith .
the narrative wastes little time establishing the fragile marital setup of ostensibly still - smitten dawn ( claire foy ) and david ( cumberbatch ) , who have recently moved back to david’s gray childhood village to start their family — a project that an early scene in a fertility clinic establishes has been struggling to reach fruition for some time . the move , meanwhile , appears to benefit workaholic academic david more than it does schoolteacher dawn , who’s frequently left alone to handle the challenges of renovating their crumbling country pad .
when david’s scruffier brother nick ( shaun evans ) , a soldier on leave from afghanistan , turns up unannounced on their doorstep , it doesn’t initially seem odd that dawn is happier for his company than her husband is . it’s not long , however , before the severely ptsd - afflicted nick begins dredging up unwelcome family memories that suggest the david whom nick grew up with is very different from the man dawn married . the behavior of all three principals takes a funny turn , in ways that feel alternately unsettling and artificially script - induced .
efficiently edited production makes the most of clearly limited resources ( we never see the exterior of the couple’s house , for one thing ) . annemarie lean - vercoe’s intelligent lensing is seasonally evocative , which is to say mostly overcast , while andrew lovett’s score , with its unexpected inflections of fiddle and accordion , strikes an ironically pastoral note .
cast : with : claire foy , benedict cumberbatch , shaun evans , peter mcdonald , sinead matthews , nicola green , june watson , georgie smith .
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nick , a soldier , has psychological problems , manifested when he sleepwalks and in some clumsily overplayed episodes of post - traumatic breakdown . dawn and david are trying for a baby , but one of them isn’t being honest .
meanwhile , the crushing , often violent intimacy between the brothers shows dawn a new side to her husband , but it’s not one she wholly likes .
hood , getting great work from a gifted crew , makes this a study in wispy half - light and secrets wisely hidden from view . it’s strongest when things are on the verge of happening , emotions inchoate and unarticulated .
the later stretches get over - literal : a stalled engine , just after we’ve discovered a key character’s infertile , is too blunt a dramatic metaphor , and the way hood co - opts another local couple ( peter mcdonald and sinead matthews , both good ) into her drama leads to a sticky , vaguely unsatisfying pile - up .
in pictures - the story of love and romance : from adam and eve to tinder and chemsex . compiled by martin chilton
the beautiful norfolk fens hide dark secrets in d . r . hood’s debut , featuring benedict cumberbatch and claire foy
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married couple dawn ( claire foy ) and david ( benedict cumberbatch ) are a picturesque couple enjoying a seemingly idyllic lifestyle . renovating a house , trying for their first baby , keeping chickens… but there is an undercurrent of foreboding almost from the very moment of the arrival of david’s brother nick , on leave from the army after a six year absence from home . dawn initially finds herself drawn to nick , but as she does , uncomfortable and unexpected revelations about her husband begin to emerge , and from there the perfect life they have built begins to unravel .
watched this tonight . intriguing . did feel a bit like i needed a playbook to keep up .
the ultimate resource for the bbc television drama series sherlock , the cast and crew behind it , and everything in between .


unfinished business is a 2015 american comedy film directed by ken scott and written by steven conrad .

the film stars vince vaughn , tom wilkinson , dave franco , sienna miller , nick frost , and james marsden .

it was released on march 6 , 2015 .

the film received negative reviews and was a box office bomb .

unfinished business ( 2015 film )

title unfinished business year 2015 distributor ( s ) 20th century fox film co . ltd classified date ( s ) 17 / 02 / 2015 main language english submitted run time 90m 49s approved footage 8173 + 8 bbfc reference aff321861 registration number cfj34996
dave franco stages a boardroom presentation in one of several stock photos promoting his film
unfinished business .
unfinished business is a comedy about three unsuccessful salesmen on a business trip that could turn everything around for them .
2015 “the golden rose , ” presented as street installation at the site of the famous destroyed synagogue , lviv , ukraine , from february 2015 .
summary unfinished business is a us comedy about three unsuccessful salesmen on a business trip that could turn everything around for them .
unfinished business
opens march 6 , but appreciation for these stock photos should last a lifetime .
looking for movie tickets ? enter your location to see which movie theaters are playing unfinished business near you .
to put it another way ,
unfinished business
is hoping you ' re buying what franco is selling .
as a genius promotion for his upcoming film unfinished business , vaughn and his co - stars , including dave franco , released a series of their own clichéd , ridiculous stock photos that plague business pamphlets and powerpoint presentations worldwide .
tom wilkinson , second from left , joins dave franco , far right , in this business - oriented celebration stock photo to promote their movie ,
unfinished business .
‘i know people are surprised’ … ryan gosling in london , 9 april 2015 . photograph : ian west / pa
actors dave franco , center , and vince vaughn , right , play mike pancake and dan trunkman in the film
unfinished business .
this image is part of a free , limited edition series of stock images promoting the film .
unfinished business , a comedy about vaughn and his colleagues attempting to land a deal in europe , opens in theaters friday .
actors vince vaughn , dave franco and tom wilkinson are here for
unfinished business
— and all your stock photo needs .
there ' s plenty to like in unfinished business , even though viewers expecting the debauchery of a wedding crashers will likely leave disappointed .
so unfinished business is what i’ll describe as “you get what you pay for” in the vince vaughn comedy wheelbarrow . rambly jokes ? …
jay burleson collection + unfinished business collector dvd . all four films : anathema arienette , the nobodies , the lonely , and unfinished business in one collection . will also include
making - of
behind the scenes of unfinished business and filmmaker commentary track for unfinished business . commentary will be only for our backers and not official release version of commentary . aka , the non politically correct ramblings of me and my friends with special guest aberdeen the cat . also includes digital
production bible
as well as shout - out and online screeners , ultimate digital .
reviewed at 20th century fox studios , los angeles , march 2 , 2015 . mpaa rating : r . running time : 90 min .
while unfinished business is not good and i do not recommend it , it also didn ' t make me want to pour bleach in my eyes .
the only apparent
unfinished business
at hand in vince vaughn ' s latest is torpedoing the last remains of the actor ' s comedy career .
2015 “an unifinished memory : jewish heritage and the holocaust in eastern galicia , ” lviv palace of arts , lviv , ukraine , august - september .
and the film may still turn out to be horrible . rotten tomatoes doesn ' t have any reviews up yet . but today fox pulled a genius marketing stunt . it released a series of stock photo featuring the cast of unfinished business .
scathing reviews of the new vince vaughn comedy unfinished business are being offset by a nifty marketing idea . but do the studios’ clever stunts and viral campaigns really work ?
to promote the new movie
unfinished business ,
vince vaughn and other members of the cast posed for stock photos . this one is captioned ,
portrait of a handsome business leader crossing his arms with his team standing behind him .
‘business trip’ , starring vince vaughn , transforms boston’s logan airport into st . louis
vince vaughn and sienna miller — in her crazy outfit — get the vip umbrella treatment on the soggy boston set of ‘unfinished business . ’ the weather is reportedly making vince cranky .
eric d . snider is a freelance film journalist and comedy writer . he tweets here .
this quote is just one example of how uninspired the screenwriter was at the moment of writing the script for unfinished business . of course he followed it up by making several breakfast references , but none of the jokes were actually funny . it’s a shame because ken scott had a stronger cast to work with here than in his previous collaboration with vince vaughn , delivery man , a film i didn’t really like but that i didn’t dislike either . i’d rather sit through that movie than watch unfinished business because this was incredibly dull , the jokes were lame , and the story was completely unfocused and all over the place . delivery man is a masterpiece next to unfinished business . …
2014 an unfinished memory : jewish heritage and the holocaust in eastern galicia , galicia jewish museum , kraków .
the ultimate digital : digital downloads of final release versions of anathema arienette , the nobodies , the lonely , and unfinished business . plus the digital
production bible
and online shout - out .
the stakes could not be lower in
unfinished business ,
the second collaboration between director ken scott and vince vaughn . watching a film with non - existent stakes is a depressing experience , especially when
unfinished business
also wants to tug on your heart - strings . heart - strings refuse to be tugged sans stakes . the characters are not people , but rough drafts of simplistic character - traits , and the actors ( game as they all are ) cannot create something out of nothing . screenwriter steve conrad has written some very good films about middle - aged male panic , most memorably
the weatherman ,
but in
unfinished business
, scenes just sit there . nothing happens .
sadly , no one behind “unfinished business” decided that audiences would get even a cursory explanation about the business part : three salesmen form their own company and spend most of the film trying to close a deal that has something to do with swarf , a metal residue left over in the creation of large steel objects . are they buying it ? selling it ? the movie can’t be bothered to tell us .
studio exec # 2 : that & apos ; s what it says on his business card .
feature your artwork or movies in unfinished business . you will get the other perks plus we will feature your artwork or your movie in our film . artwork will be placed in the bedroom of a character and your movie will be in a small stack of dvds spread out on a counter or table , etc .
by then the movie didn’t just belong to gosling . it was also the property of warner brothers , the american rights bought for $ 3m when the film was unfinished . after cannes , the studio tried selling them .
get a copy of unfinished business on dvd . special crowd - funder edition for our supporters only . will have it ' s own custom artwork and as many bonus features ( aimed at our contributors ) as possible .
unfinished business is heartfelt , has some laughs and a talented cast , but it ' s still inconsistently funny with a shortage of laughs , tonal inconsistencies and dramatic beats that just don ' t work . skip this one .
at the end of the day , jupiter ascending was a unique , individual film that took a chance .
still , “unfinished business” isn’t a laugh - free experience — nick frost steals every scene as a business underling with a kinky side — and some of the comic set pieces actually work . it’s certainly the best thing vaughn has done in the decade since “wedding crashers , ” which makes it less of a raw deal than usual .
jay burleson is an independent filmmaker currently living in north alabama . he has been described as the most prolific filmmaker in the state of alabama by sidewalk film festival programmer rachel morgan , and his faux trailer for a lost installment of the halloween movie franchise has screened in front of the original texas chainsaw massacre and won the
best fake trailer
award at the 2014 lost episode fest in toronto . his first feature film , the vhs inspired horror / comedy feast of the vampires , won the audience choice award for best film at an athens , al . film festival in 2009 . anathema arienette , one of three feature films burleson is currently adding finishing touches to , is set to premiere at the 17th annual sidewalk film festival in august of 2015 .
but in a fit of marketing genius , the promotional team behind the movie
unfinished business
decided it was time to give a little star power to those images , which often come across as goofy , stilted and random .
business trip spent several days filming at drumlin farm in lincoln , ma before moving to framingham last week .
in this red - band trailer for ken scott’s upcoming comedy unfinished business , we find vaughn in vintage deadpan mode as a salesman trying to out - maneuver his old company , which is run by a savvy sienna miller . drama !
studio exec # 1 : it & apos ; s the best film i & apos ; ve ever seen .
when reporters and gossipmongers combed through the documents leaked by the sony hackers late last year , one of the things they found was an audio recording of the meeting where the vince vaughn film unfinished business was pitched to three studio executives . ( how a meeting for a non - sony film came to be included in the sony leak is a question best ignored , shut up . ) in the interest of public service , here is a transcript of the recording .
the unfinished business photos are almost a little too on the nose . you can see them all here . while vaughn is quietly mugging it up , he costars are taking their photos a bit more seriously . and that ' s pretty funny .
if you spot business trip filming in massachusetts , let us know about it at olv @ onlocationvacations . com !
with “unfinished business , ” vaughn will be trying to break a recent box - office losing streak . his last hit was 2009’s “couples retreat , ” and misfires “the internship , ” “the watch” and “the dilemma” have come since . dave franco and tom wilkinson co - star in the r - rated tale of a european business trip gone that goes very wrong .
a comedy with its heart in the right place and everything else bizarrely out of joint , “unfinished business” finds director ken scott following 2013’s “delivery man” with another dubious attempt to sell audiences on vince vaughn’s sensitive side . playing a down - on - his - luck family man who takes an ill - advised business trip to berlin with two unfunny sidekicks [ … ]
fox had a hit last summer with a somewhat similar comedy , “let’s be cops . ” but that one skewed younger and cost less to make than “unfinished business , ” which has a $ 35 million production budget and was financed by new regency .
enter the new vince vaughn movie unfinished business , which comes out friday . twentieth century fox has teamed up with istock by getty images to create a set of stock photos featuring vaughn along with co - stars tom wilkinson , dave franco and others .
studio exec # 1 : gentlemen , we don & apos ; t have time to come up with a title today . we & apos ; ll leave all of this unfinished business for tomorrow . for now : it & apos ; s cocaine time !
as for the actual movie ,
unfinished business
follows dan truckman ( vaughn ) and his misfit employees timothy mcwinters ( wilkinson ) and mike pancake ( franco ) as they try to close on an international deal that would save them from going bankrupt .
at the same time , however , the film keeps attempting to tug at our heartstrings , with dan’s facetime attempts to be a good husband ( a terribly underused june diane raphael plays the wife ) and dad . part of what drives dan to close this deal is his desire to afford private school for his kids , which “unfinished business” unquestioningly presents as a solution for bullying .
a hard - working small business owner and his two associates travel to europe to close the most important deal of their lives . but what began as a routine business trip goes off the rails in every way imaginable - and unimaginable .
the film ' s synopsis sounds right up vince ' s alley :
what began as a routine business trip goes off the rails in every imaginable—and unimaginable—way , including unplanned stops at a massive sex fetish event and a global economic summit .
the tomatometer score — based on the opinions of hundreds of film and television critics — is a trusted measurement of critical recommendation for millions of fans . it represents the percentage of professional critic reviews that are positive for a given film or television show .
this is your chance to have your name , or company name , in front of our film . we ' ll put it on all the posters we make , and it ' ll be in the opening and closing credits of the film as well .
there ' s one sequence in
unfinished business
that is not given enough room to breathe , but it has a lot of weird possibilities . because he can ' t find a hotel room , trunkman ends up staying in a museum art - installation called american businessman 42 : an all - white hotel room , with an entire wall of windows , where passersby can look in and watch him as though he is an elephant in a zoo . it ' s the only moment when
unfinished business
feels in any way original .
vince vaughn’s familiar comic everyman is a bit sweeter and a bit less edgy than usual in unfinished business , a mostly flat , occasionally raunchy comedy - drama that packages its star with canadian director ken scott , an underused anglo - american supporting cast and quirky berlin settings .
though it does not have a highbrow bone in its cinematic body , ken scott’s “unfinished business” has enough heart , goofiness , and raunch to make it an appealing comedy . following three misfit businessmen as they travel to germany to close the biggest deal of their careers , the film combines economic stresses , domestic drama , and underdog shenanigans for a piece of work that is silly , ribald , and entertaining .
he has recently performed at the asian art museum in san francisco and received a 2015 artist fellowship in music from the alabama state council on the arts . he is committed to supporting progressive arts in the south and is glad to be involved in the production of
studio exec # 1 : ken , with this premise and these actors , the film will write , produce , and distribute itself .
studio exec # 2 : i & apos ; m not quite sold . on this business trip , do things go awry ?
mostly “unfinished business” is a tale of unfinished jokes : hey , what if timothy mcwinters ( wilkinson ) kept talking dirty , getting high on ectasy and smoking weed ? all of those ideas could lead somewhere . none does . he hires a “sex maid” to come to his hotel room , but then the hooker - cleaner goes to the vaughn character’s room to clean it instead . he’s happily married and wasn’t expecting that . ha ha .
2014 “an unfinished memory : jewish heritage and the holocaust in eastern galicia , ” ( solo ) , permanent exhibition for the galicia jewish museum , kraków .
vaughn’s r - rated comedy “ unfinished business , ” distributed by 20th century fox , is projected to see a dismal $ 5 million opening from 2 , 777 locations . the actor’s previous career - low was earned by 2013’s “delivery man , ” which opened to $ 7 million domestically .
producer : you ' ll get a producer credit in credits of unfinished business + on imdb ( as early as october / nov this year for imdb credit ) at this perk level . also includes digital
production bible
as well as shout - out and online screeners , ultimate digital .
that “unfinished business” thinks it’s a really fun idea to have a leading character named mike pancake tells you all you need to know . so , someone asks mike in a meeting , your boss’ name is , what , steve toast ? ho , ho . stop , my ribs are cracking .
executive producer / all access ( aka so much of me it ' ll make you sick ) : same as other producer credits only this time you get the name of an executive . because that ' s as good as it gets , right ? imdb version available as soon as imdb page is launched and the campaign ends and we hit our goal , obviously . so , oct / nov 2015 ! plus : your choice of either the dvd collection set or the blu - ray collection set ( including unfinished business ) and you can name a character in the film . naming a character is limited to 1 name per person and 3 names total . also limited to first name only in most cases .
but you ' ve got to hand it to a good marketing campaign . anything that helps a film stand out these days and ignites some kind of discussion is a job well done . prometheus had a similarly outside - the - box promotional campaign with its ted talk from the future . in my opinion , that stunt was better than the movie and i suspect it will be the same case here . unfinished business hits theaters friday .
ken scott : this is the great part . it really is a killer premise . you & apos ; ve got this guy , see , and he has two business partners , one older and one younger , and the three of them go on a business trip .
even as star wars : the force awakens shatters records across the globe , it wasn’t all glory for the 2015 box office . there were plenty of films – some highly anticipated , others dead on arrival – that didn’t quite justify their worth in the eyes of movie - goers .
little contained in this misfire of a film works and the few successful things are dragged out to the point where they die a lingering death .
2014 an unfinished memory : jewish heritage and the holocaust in eastern galicia . conceived , designed , photographed and wrote new permanent exhibition for the galicia jewish museum , kraków .
directed by ken scott , the movie co - stars dave franco and tells the story of a business trip to europe that goes disastrously awry .
studio exec # 1 :
three businessmen go on a business trip .
that premise has everything : men , trips—the whole nine yards !
5 . the spongebob movie : sponger out of water – $ 7 million [ 5th week ; $ 148 million total ] as the lone family - oriented film out in theaters these days , “spongebob” has coasted to a sizable profit and doubling its $ 74 million budget . “spongebob” is trailing “fifty shades of grey” for 2015’s top grosser by about $ 8 million right now and could catch it to claim the top spot until “furious 7” hits theaters .
the sony pictures release will come in with a little more than $ 15 million and beat out the weekend’s other two openers , say the analysts . the vince vaughn comedy “unfinished business” from twentieth century fox will finish in the $ 10 million range and “the second best exotic marigold hotel” from fox searchlight should trail that .
associate producer credit : you ' ll get an associate producer credit in credits of unfinished business + on imdb ( as early as october / early nov this year for the imdb credit ) for this contribution amount . also includes digital
production bible
as well as shout - out and online screeners , ultimate digital .
heading to the cinema this weekend ? off to see neill blomkamp’s sci - fi adventure chappie ? or perhaps julianne moore’s oscar - winning performance in still alice ? ok , well how about unfinished business , the vince vaughn - tom wilkinson comedy you didn’t even know was coming out ? yeah . . . thought not .
a hard - working small business owner ( vince vaughn ) and his two associates ( tom wilkinson , dave franco ) travel to europe to close the most important deal of their lives . but what began as a routine business trip goes off the rails in every way imaginable - and unimaginable .
the ballad of narayama
is a japanese film of great beauty and elegant artifice , telling a story of startling cruelty . what a space it opens…
anne - marie slaughter , president and chief executive officer of the new america foundation , gestures as she speaks during a session on the opening day of the world economic forum ( wef ) in davos , switzerland , on wednesday , jan . 21 , 2015 . ( chris ratcliffe / bloomberg - - getty images
but still , there’s something oddly memorable about these often quite smart stunts , and since generic products like devil’s due or unfinished business might disappear from cinemas and memories with speed , you can’t blame the studios for trying to add some value to the campaigns . publicity departments work best when they’re being realistic , and if there’s no positive word of mouth for a film , they’ll decide to focus conversation on something else . and as you’ve just read this article , apparently it works rather well .
already have a christmas wish for this year : erase this film from my memory . oh wait . . . it ' s already been done . thanks .
where are the razzies for these movies ? jupiter ascending ’s rotten tomatoes score is pretty crappy , but it’s not as dismal as survivor ’s meagre 7 % approval rating , or even the transporter ’s 17 % . unfinished business got an “honourable mention” by the razzie committee at 11 % , so why is jupiter ascending the one being nominated ?
let’s ignore 50 shades of grey for the moment because it ties in with a point i’m going to make later on – just bear in mind that both it and jupiter ascending have the highest rotten tomatoes score in that list . now , let’s take a look at the rotten tomatoes scores of some different 2015 movies .
studio exec # 1 : [ on intercom ] sharon , let & apos ; s get a marketing campaign started for ken scott & apos ; s new film .
a few weeks ago , i saw the first trailer for an upcoming vince vaughn comedy called unfinished business . i ' m pretty plugged in to the movie world and i had never heard of this film before . the trailer looked pretty god awful . while i ' m excited to see vaughn in the upcoming second season of true detectives , his comedy career is on the rocks and with an early march release , i figured even the presence of the ever - charming dave franco couldn ' t save this stinker .
a hard - working small business owner and his two associates travel to europe to close the most important deal of their lives . but what began as a routine business trip goes off the rails in every imaginable – and unimaginable – way , including unplanned stops at a massive sex fetish event and a global economic summit .
richard gere joins the cast for the sequel , which sees director john madden , judi dench , maggie smith , dev patel and bill nighy return from the first film .
starring vince vaughn , tom wilkinson , and dave franco , the comedy follows their struggling white - collar men as they lay the groundwork for a business enterprise . the business is less important than the struggle , of course , and the struggle provides ample room for comedy . each character has his share of personal obstacles which lead to plenty…
on the one hand , “unfinished business” wants to be a hard - r comedy , with sojourns to a co - ed sauna ( an uncomfortable sniggery scene ) and the backroom of a berlin gay leather bar ( which admittedly pushes visible - penis - related humor pretty far for a mainstream hollywood movie ) , in addition to a riot outside the g - 8 summit .
the comedy has requested a permit to film in boston’s north end / waterfront on friday , november 22th and monday , november 25th . a scene will be filmed at the fairmont battery wharf with vaughn jogging up the street while another will be shot at commercial wharf . t he crew will film night scenes on the waterfront marina at long wharf , too .
dan : the first rule is : show the client a good time . i like vince vaughn and have tried to support his efforts over the years , but what are we doing here ? at some point in the scripting of this film about three men going on a business trip to germany , the creative decision was to have a character named mike pancake , because silly last names equal laughs . later on , that same character ( who we come to learn is mentally challenged ) slips and falls face first into an exposed penis . maybe you weren ' t expecting me to explain a penis gag in the opening paragraph of a review for unfinished business , but hey , i was not really expecting to see so many in the film as a whole either . this is just one of many haphazardly assembled ' jokes ' thrown at the wall in this aggressively unfunny comedy . read the whole review at urltoken
the raunch – which has earned the film an r rating in the us – comes mostly in a pretty mild ‘glory - holing’ scene in the bathroom of a berlin gay bar .
there were critics who had plenty of good things to say about jupiter ascending . in cinemascore polls conducted during the opening weekend , audiences gave jupiter ascending an average grade of “b - ” on an a + to f scale . polygon named jupiter ascending number 8 on the staff’s list of the top 10 films of 2015 . even the lukewarm comments conceded the film’s grandiose risk - taking , with david blaustein for abc news radio stating that “ jupiter ascending is a campy visual sci - fi spectacle that could very well become a cult classic . ”
eric foner is a professor of history at columbia university and the author of “gateway to freedom : the hidden history of the underground railroad , ” “reconstruction : america’s unfinished revolution” and “a short history of reconstruction . ”
sony’s sci - fier “chappie” is marching toward a soft debut at the u . s . box office while vince vaughn is having the worst opening weekend of his career . vaughn’s r - rated comedy “unfinished business , ” distributed by 20th century fox , is projected to see a dismal $ 5 million opening from 2 , 777 locations . the actor’s previous career - low was earned by [ … ]
studio exec # 1 : roger , i wouldn & apos ; t have called it the best film i & apos ; ve ever seen if i didn & apos ; t mean it .
“ unfinished business , ” made for $ 35 million and financed by new regency , is the latest in a string of downbeat results for vaughn following “the dilemma , ” “the watch , ” “the internship” and “delivery man . ” he had five comedies top $ 100 million between 2004 and 2009 with “dodgeball , ” “wedding crashers , ” “the break - up , ” “four christmases” and “couples retreat . ”
the more you watch a movie , the easier it becomes by the facile nature of trailers to determine if something ' s going to be good . you get that buzz , that instinctual sense , that river of anticipation . at times you ' re let down , at times the promise isn ' t fulfilled , but most often you ' re rewarded . equally , as in everything with balance , you know when a film will be bad - indeed it ' s perhaps easier to spot , despite trying to approach everything with an open mind . then you watch unfinished business and you realise sometimes , even as an amateur film critic , these things are impossible to predict . because even by the awful , cringe making standards of the trailer for ken scott ' s movie , nothing could have…
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the film , which has been called “misbegotten” by variety and “woefully familiar” by the hollywood reporter , stars vaughn as a sales exec who encounters mayhem while on a business trip to europe . given his recent track record ( flops including delivery man , the watch and the internship ) , it’s unlikely to set the box office alight , and analysts predict an underwhelming $ 6m opening stateside .
a hard - working small business owner ( vince vaughn ) and his two associates ( tom wilkinson , dave franco ) travel to europe to close the most important deal of their lives . but what began as a routine business trip goes off the rails in every imaginable – and unimaginable – way , including unplanned stops at a massive sex fetish event and a global economic summit .
other than that , the film limps along , with no sense of comic timing , slapstick reality , or even spontaneity . it ' s so airless , and yet it feels heavy as lead .
ken scott : vince vaughn worked for me in delivery man . i & apos ; m confident he & apos ; d make another film with me , or literally anyone else who asked him .
there’s plenty to like in unfinished business , even though viewers expecting the debauchery of a wedding crashers will likely leave disappointed . i feel for vince vaughn , i really do . he clearly wants to explore this more serious vein , but he keeps having to sell his former high - concept persona . it’s a fascinating existential dilemma for a movie star to find himself in ; if only it resulted in better movies .
2015’s fantastic four is a classic case of the making of the film being far more interesting than the film itself . the troubled production suffered its share of problems , from director josh trank’s reported erratic behavior on set , to painfully obvious reshoots , to the blame game that followed in the wake of its dismal reception . standing at a truly rotten 10 % on rotten tomatoes , the intended reinvigoration of the fantastic four wound up only souring the fox franchise further . our own review stated : “aesthetically drab and dramatically inert , this reboot of fantastic four manages to actually make the previous two ff movies seem better in hindsight . ” fantastic four did manage to make back its production budget , but when marketing is thrown into the cost , its losses stand at around $ 80 million .
this brand of underdog / misfit dramedy is familiar enough territory for screenwriter steve conrad , whose scripts have largely centered around the funny - sad spectacle of an ordinary guy trying to transcend his glum material circumstances — most recently in “the secret life of walter mitty , ” and before that in “the weather man” and “the pursuit of happyness , ” still the best film produced from his work . if “ unfinished business ” feels like the worst , it’s because unlike its predecessors , it’s been forced to operate like an overly broad sex farce , a genre for which neither conrad nor director scott demonstrates any particular flair or conviction .
alonso duralde , thewrap ' s lead movie critic , has written about film for movieline , salon , msnbc . com . he also co - hosts the linoleum knife podcast and regularly appears on what the flick ? ! ( the young turks network ) . senior programmer for the outfest film festival in los angeles and a pre - screener for the sundance film festival , he is also a consultant for the usa film festival / dallas , where he spent five years as artistic director . a former arts and entertainment editor at the advocate , he was a regular contributor to
the rotten tomatoes show
on current . he is the author of two books :
have yourself a movie little christmas
( limelight editions ) and
101 must - see movies for gay men
( advocate books ) .
in unfinished business , out this month , slaughter lays out why she disagrees with some parts of the lean in philosophy , but respects the facebook coo as a leader . the two women have often been held up as opposing voices in the debate about why exactly women can’t rise to the top professionally . in slaughter’s 2012 atlantic article “ why women still can’t have it all , ” she argued that american workplace structures are inherently hostile to women ; unfinished business is basically a follow - up , expanding on the argument that society needs to implement fundamental structural changes if women are ever going to be able to succeed equally at work . sheryl sandberg’s 2013 blockbuster lean in argued that internal cultural and psychological pressures allow women to hold themselves back . it’s the classic case of structure vs . agency , and each woman’s arguments have often been used to refute the other’s .
the two - week slump in the u . s . box office came after a 10 % surge in moviegoing this year , with the industry hoping that disney’s “cinderella” can reignite business next weekend .
vince vaughn’s latest , “ unfinished business ” couldn’t even crack the top 5 in its debut week , managing a terrible $ 4 . 8 million . vaughn’s comedic star power has taken some major hits with bombs like “the dilemma , ” “the watch” and “delivery man” and this career worse was exactly the opposite of what he needed . thankfully for him , he’ll be starring in the second season of “true detective” so he’ll be just fine .
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a hard - working small business owner ( vince vaughn ) and his two associates ( tom wilkinson , dave franco ) travel to europe to close the most important deal of their lives . but what began as a routine business trip goes off the rails in every imaginable - and unimaginable - way , including unplanned stops at a massive sex fetish event and a global economic summit . ( c ) fox
david o . russell and jennifer lawrence are back together once again , which means it ' s time for another wacky , outlandish , probably oscar - nominated film , this time about the inventor of miracle mop .
it’s no secret that jupiter ascending received a critical response that was below lukewarm at best – it’s current rotten tomatoes score is 26 % . the film shares its razzie nomination for worst picture with four other movies .
now he’s taken the logical next step and left the screen completely . in his new film lost river , gosling is , for the first time , the director . this spares him delivering dialogue , but at a price . on this side of the process , the director is obliged to keep talking – especially when , as gosling is , they are also the writer and producer . and especially when the film is lost river .
also there’s a long , long setup for a business meeting that gets conducted in the nude , in a sauna . the payoff ? nothing much , except franco’s character mutters , “boobs” and “butt crack . ”
the fact that a movie called hot tub time machine – starring john cusack , no less – made enough money to warrant a sequel is amazing in and of itself . the fact that the original movie was actually pretty good is even crazier . unfortunately , httm 2 is a failure on all accounts , its lack of cusack removing the cohesiveness of the first film and its general lack of laughs and innovation making it insufferable . while not as big a flop as some other movies on this list , httm 2 still lost money and – as one of ign’s worst - reviewed movies of 2015 – lost two hours we can never get back .
we’re all familiar with classic stock photos of the corporate world - the smiley - faced boardroom presentation , the friendly handshake , the high achiever climbing up the corporate ladder , briefcase in hand ,
a getty representative tells mashable . they’re all timeless classics . joining forces with new regency twentieth century fox presented a brilliant opportunity to have some fun with these stereotypes that play directly into the business storyline of the film .
neill blomkamp ’s new sci - fi movie “chappie” opens friday as the favorite to knock off the reigning no . 1 film , will smith caper comedy “focus” and top what looks like a slow weekend at the box office .
not quite vaughns worst film but god damn that franco is so . . . annoying . why can ' t someone just write a funny script without all the idiotic naked and gay jokes ? should ' ve been much better
the character mike pancake deserved to be in a much better movie . thank you dave franco from saving this film from being a total disaster . because it really is quite poor whenever he isn ' t on - screen .
( and the less said on the dopey subplot about tim’s unhappy marriage and his desire to have sex in new and interesting positions , the better , except that it leads to some of the film’s clumsiest , most leaden gags . )
michael mann’s tech - crime thriller starring chris hemsworth was one of 2015’s first box office flops , debuting against american sniper and landing at a measly # 10 on its opening weekend . pretty much dead on arrival , the story of an imprisoned hacker released to help the authorities stop a global tech catastrophe didn’t fare well with critics either . our 5 . 4 / 10 review said “if there’s one thing that blackhat demonstrates it’s that michael mann has nothing left to say . ”
vaughn’s box office pull isn’t what it used to be - he last starred in the scott - directed delivery man , which topped out at $ 30 . 7m in the us and canada – so expectations won’t be huge when the fox - distributed unfinished business opens in the us , uk and other international markets over the weekend beginning march 6 . the cast ( including tom wilkinson and sienna miller ) and european locations ( berlin ) might be marginal selling points outside the us ( where delivery man managed $ 20 . 5m ) .
but although studios continue to distract attention from the movies themselves with such trickery , the proof is in the rather deflated pudding . in the summer of 2006 , the most talked about film by far was new line’s high - concept thriller snakes on a plane . as soon as it was announced , the film became online catnip , and fake trailers , artwork and fan fiction flooded the web . the official campaign capitalised on this outpouring with reshoots to include fan - created dialogue , a competition for bands to send in music for the end credits , and prerecorded messages from star samuel l jackson that you could send to your friends’ phones . but the buzz failed to turn into box office , and the film opened to a disappointing $ 14m in the us .
the dramatic beats don ' t work and the plot isn ' t a very appealing one , but
unfinished business
is a comedy that had me consistently laughing throughout . the three leads all have great chemistry and deliver on a lot of laughs . vince vaughn and tom wilkinson are both solid but it ' s dave franco who stole all of his scenes and had me laughing the hardest . besides that , it moves at a great pace , the characters were entertaining , and as i said , i was laughing consistently throughout .
in the summer of 2005 , the horror remake house of wax wasn’t at the top of anyone’s must - see list , until a rather smart stunt involving its star , paris hilton , suddenly made the film’s release seem like a genuine event . turning public hatred of the socialite to their benefit , warner bros heavily publicised her gruesome death in the film and even released “see paris die” t - shirts . however , an opening weekend of just $ 12m stateside suggested that it wasn’t quite enough of an incentive .
how about his father ? a voice cuts in behind me : “can we stick to film questions ? ” the publicist , i realise , is sitting there , bandaged . gosling looks a little awkward . “yeah . . . he wasn’t so involved . ”
despite an impressive cast boasting sean penn , idris elba , and javier bardem , the gunman – directed by taken’s pierre morel – failed to make an impression in 2015 . penn stars as a retired black - ops merc that finds himself the target of a hit squad seeking retribution for an assassination he performed years earlier . while we thought the movie was “okay” with a score of 6 . 8 , the gunman lost big at the box office , falling short of its $ 40 million budget by more than half .
the critics have yet to weigh in , but it is ahead of where blomkamp’s last film “elysium” was on twitter , though trailing it on facebook . that one starred matt damon and opened to $ 29 million in august 2013 and topped out at $ 93 million domestically .
inside the cinema , gosling and smith enter to warm applause from an audience fresh from the film . some of the crowd bought £50 curzon memberships just to be able to get a ticket . he explains how the idea for the film took hold when he was in detroit making political thriller the ides of march . the place had always fascinated him , the home of motown and the auto industry . having found the modern reality was “40 miles of abandoned neighbourhoods , ” he bought a camera and began to shoot . a story started percolating .
the jay burleson collection . my three feature films : anathema arienette , the nobodies , and the lonely in a 3 - case dvd set with one - of - a - kind artwork designed to tie all three films together in one nifty package . each film will include as many bonus features as i can possibly fit on the discs . signed by various cast and crew ( by request ) and numbered with 1 35mm film still taken from the set of each individual production . also includes digital
production bible
, shout - out , online screener links , ultimate digital .
while adding some colour to a mediocre film’s campaign helps to increase awareness and online conversation , it’s failed to translate into an increase in box office . a study last year by nielsen showed that the younger , more digitally aware consumers who would be the core audience for online stunts are losing interest in the cinema , with a 15 % decline in their attendance year on year . it’s also worth remembering the importance of simplicity . google conducted a survey which found that a film’s official trailer is three times more important than any other information source when it comes to influencing moviegoing decisions .
the nobodies on vhs - just for my friends jason od and jeffrey parker , and anyone else that wants to check out our shot on vhs horror film , on an actual vhs tape ! stars lane hughes from you ' re next . trailer to be released as part of this campaign .
his mother , donna , has seen the film . “she liked it , i think . ” she was “involved in the process , ” visiting him in detroit . ( in high spirits at the curzon , he will expand on her opinion : “she thinks i could be funnier . ” )
sienna miller pops up every now and then in the role of dan’s vile former boss , to remind us just how awful successful women are , while nick frost plays some kind of business advisor ( again , the specifics are unclear ) whom the boys catch cottaging in a nightclub .
despite hits like christopher nolan’s “interstellar” and “inception” and the top - grossing film of all time “avatar , ” there have been many more recent misses . lana and andy wachowski ’s “jupiter ascending , ” “after earth , ” guillermo del toro’s “pacific rim” and tom cruise’s “oblivion” all came up short domestically .
even the captions seem to be in on the joke . vaughn is described in one stock photo as a
handsome business leader crossing his arms with his team standing behind him .
another features wilkinson and franco among a group of workers
enjoying victory on a white background .
nfinished business certainly lives up to the promise of its title : the film looks as though it needs another six months’ work . vince vaughn stars – and for many , that will be all the review required – as dan trunkman , a hard - pressed father whose job takes him and two dunderheaded colleagues ( tom wilkinson , dave franco ) to europe in pursuit of a life - changing contract . the job itself has something to do with the disposal of metal shavings , although we never find out exactly what : given how toweringly stupid all three men are , perhaps they eat them .
with a $ 49 million production budget , “chappie” cost about half of what those films did , so it will have an easier path to profitability . it stars hugh jackman and deals with a robot ( voiced by sharlto copley ) that is captured by criminals , and the film has its share of laughs .
audiences are able to distinguish a fun viral video from a film that’s actually worth seeing , and filmgoing decisions still appear to be based on more substantial factors . this year’s biggest hits , fifty shades of grey and american sniper , benefited from an inbuilt audience , and controversy that wasn’t carefully orchestrated by studios .
– $ 13 . 3 million [ debut week ] neill blomkamp will no doubt be happy to move on to the “alien” franchise after his latest failed to match expectations , which in some cases were as high as $ 20 million . “chappie” seemed more of a family film , but its “r” rating likely kept its more viable audience home . that proved to be a common theme this weekend . budgeted at $ 49 million , “chappie” may be able to scrape through to profitability , but it will have to overcome negative critical response ( 30 % freshness on rottentomatoes ) and modest audience interest ( the film has a b
2 . focus – $ 10 million [ 2nd week ; $ 34 . 6 million in total ] – will smith’s latest tumbled down to second place after a somewhat lackluster opening last weekend . it was another film , like “chappie” that met with middling critical acceptance and audience interest – mirroring “chappie’s” b cinemascore .
the result ending up at cannes still troubles him . “a lot of people worked very hard on the film , and it was a chance to showcase their work . . . ” he frowns . “but this movie was basically homemade . and to be there in tuxedos . . . it felt incongruous . ”