Taking Care Of Business

So I thought I'd hop on the Star Wars bandwagon this week and take a look back and some forgotten films of the cast and crew of Star Wars: The Force Awakens. First up is director J.J. Abrams and his writing debut, 1990's Taking Care Of Business.

I like to say we all have to start somewhere. In Abrams case, it was writing a Jim Belushi vehicle. At least it wasn't a Legally Blonde sequel. I always thought Belushi was fine as a second banana in films like The Man With One Red Shoe or ...About Last Night. But somewhere in the late 80's, somebody thought he would make a good leading man. The results were hit or miss. He could have a hysterical, albeit overlooked, comedy like Real Men, or something dreadful like Mr. Destiny. Taking Care Of Business falls somewhere in the middle.

Belushi plays Jimmy, an inmate days away from parole. When he wins tickets to see his beloved Chicago Cubs play in the World Series, he begs the warden, Hector Elizondo, if he can leave for a few hours and come back. Of course the warden says no. I think any warden would. Jimmy stages a riot so he can sneak out for a few hours. On his way to the game, he finds the day planner of ad exec Spencer, Charles Grodin, and assumes his identity. In his desperate attempts to retrieve his planner, Spencer's life goes down the tubes, and he's out for revenge.

I'll admit, I feel kind of dirty writing about this one. It is kind of nice to see Abrams humble beginnings. And it's directed by the legendary Arthur Hiller, who helps rise this so so story to a watchable level. But Belushi and Grodin are basically typecast here as the con man and exasperated yuppie. What would have been intersting is if Hiller would have switched the roles. Grodin's always been a fine actor, but lets face it, after Midnight Run, most of his roles were money grabs.

I can't totally recommend this, but it's not a total bore and worth checking out to see an early work by someone who would eventually become one of Hollywood's biggest directors.

It's available on dvd.