The Goods: Live Hard, Sell Hard 2009

Ben Mankiewicz, At the Movies: This was funny in the beginning, no question, but then it turned into I thought a sort of a very stale comedy. Read more

Michael Phillips, Chicago Tribune: I laughed more than I thought I would (though of course hope springs eternal at the movies) and if I ran the Hollywood zoo, I'd give these particular screenwriters another assignment. Read more

Manohla Dargis, New York Times: A grubby-looking comedy about the art of the sale. Read more

Keith Phipps, AV Club: Funny ideas bubble up from time to time only to disappear into a morass of stripper jokes and desperation. Read more

Bill Goodykoontz, Arizona Republic: It's an unconscionable waste of talent, an immediate embarrassment for Jeremy Piven, Ving Rhames, David Koechner, Ed Helms and Tony Hale. Who knows how much they got paid, but if it wasn't a lot, they were robbed. Read more

Wesley Morris, Boston Globe: The Goods has its exuberant moments. But the people behind the camera don't appear to know what they're doing as well as those in front of it. Read more

J. R. Jones, Chicago Reader: It's a grab bag of comic ideas, but some of the gags are impressively perverse. Read more

Lisa Schwarzbaum, Entertainment Weekly: The comedy concept is solid... It's the execution that's out of alignment in The Goods: Live Hard, Sell Hard. Read more

Robert Abele, Los Angeles Times: The Goods: Live Hard, Sell Hard has a beater's clunky, fast-moving charm. Read more

Vadim Rizov, L.A. Weekly: Making copy editors' lives everywhere easier: The Goods doesn't deliver. Read more

Christy Lemire, Associated Press: It's just repetitive, adolescent and lame. Read more

Rene Rodriguez, Miami Herald: Most of The Goods just sits there, a lumpen load of dullness. Read more

Joe Neumaier, New York Daily News: 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 more

Lou Lumenick, New York Post: The Goods, which shows signs of considerable tinkering in the editing room, is understandably not getting a hard sell at all by its studio. Read more

Roger Moore, Orlando Sentinel: It's a car-selling comedy that plays like a backfiring Bentley -- a shiny ride that runs in fits and starts, never quite hitting on all cylinders. Read more

Steven Rea, Philadelphia Inquirer: The Goods is not without its share of laughs. But the laughs come with contempt and condescension, not empathy. Read more

Roger Ebert, Chicago Sun-Times: The Goods is a cheerfully energetically and very vulgar comedy. If you're okay with that, you may be okay with this film, which contains a lot of laughs and has studied Political Correctness only enough to make a list of groups to offend. Read more

Mick LaSalle, San Francisco Chronicle: Something about The Goods: Live Hard, Sell Hard feels forgettable, even though, in the moment, it's often very funny. Read more

Colin Covert, Minneapolis Star Tribune: The movie gores many sacred cows, insulting families, capitalism, sexual responsibility, political correctness and smoking bans, with glee if not originality. Read more

Jennie Punter, Globe and Mail: This film is like a piano falling on a car -- it may sound funny, but not when it happens to you. Read more

Linda Barnard, Toronto Star: The flick has the right cast to be a funny ride, but instead suffers from a panicky sense of desperation to cram it all in while offending as many people as possible with lowball yuks. Read more

David Jenkins, Time Out: A throng of outrageous supporting characters do little to salvage this stalled effort. Read more

Brian Lowry, Variety: A project about selling used cars invites abuse, but the movie indeed runs out of gas, squandering a wealth of comedy talent mostly associated with television. Read more

Ann Hornaday, Washington Post: The audience will no doubt laugh on cue as The Goods hits its marks with dutiful predictability, but they shouldn't be surprised if they come to feel like they've been had. Read more