TAKING CARE OF BUSINESS (DVD/1.33/DD 5.1) DVD

Taking Care of Business
James Belushi and Charles Grodin team up for this variation on the Prince and the Pauper. Belushi plays Jimmy Dworski, a convicted car thief, serving time in a minimum security prison. But when Jimmy wins a pair of tickets to the World Series from a radio call-in show, he can't resist walking out of jail, particularly when the warden won't even let the inmates watch the series on television. Grodin plays rich workaholic Spencer Barnes, who, when his wife walks out on him right before a long-planned vacation, leaves his datebook in an airport telephone booth. Happening upon Spencer's datebook is Jimmy, who simply intends to return the datebook to Spencer for a 1,000-dollar reward. But when he finds the datebook contains his credit cards, Jimmy assumes Spencer's identity, living the good life and dating the boss's daughter, while making his way to Malibu to return the property to Spencer. ~ Paul Brenner, All Movie Guide

Cast James Belushi as Jimmy Dworski Charles Grodin as Spencer Barnes Anne de Salvo as Debbie Loryn Locklin as Jewel Stephen Elliott as Walter Bentley Veronica Hamel as Elizabeth Barnes Hector Elizondo as Warden Mako as Sakamoto Gates McFadden as Diane

Crew Lynn Stalmaster - Casting Duncan Henderson - Co-producer Marilyn Matthews - Costume Designer Arthur Hiller - Director William H. Reynolds - Editor Paul Mazursky - Executive Producer Stewart Copeland - Composer (Music Score) Ablert von Tilzer - Songwriter Lewis - Songwriter Jack Norworth - Songwriter Richard Arrington - Makeup Jon Hutman - Production Designer David M. Walsh - Cinematographer Geoffrey Taylor - Producer Linda Spheeris - Set Designer Charles William Breen - Set Designer Richard Ratliff - Special Effects Joe Dunne - Stunts Jill Mazursky - Screenwriter Jeffrey Abrams - Screenwriter

Taking Care of Business
This 1990 Hollywood formula comedy is a pleasant surprise. Arthur Hiller's role-reversal picture will never be accused of originality; it reiterates the ancient Prince and Pauper setup recycled from scores of other screen comedies, such as John Landis' 1983 Trading Places. But what it does, it does impeccably well. Hiller one-ups the Landis film and other similar efforts by retaining a gleeful congeniality throughout and resisting crassness and ugliness. Some critics responded favorably to Trading Places by comparing it to Frank Capra, but the overrated Landis film turns terribly dour and ugly. The breeziness, warmth, and sheer affability of this effort come much closer in spirit to the old Hollywood masterworks of social satire, such as My Man Godfrey; in fact, it's as if Hiller and co-scripters Jill Mazursky (the producer's daughter) and Jeff Abrams cross-pollinated Capra and Ernst Lubitsch. Only a Hollywood comedy could present a 37-time car thief and prison escapee (played by Jim Belushi) who is such a swell guy, and work out the mechanics of the plot so slickly that he slides right through the shaggy-dog plot without being detected as an imposter and reincarcerated. The film bears about as much relation to the real world as a Playboy pictorial. Half of it is just eye candy (such as Belushi's explorations of the Sharper Image-laden Malibu beach home where he crashes), and the ending terribly desperate. But there are enormous pleasures to be had here; we have fun watching the apish Belushi careen his way through Charles Grodin's business meetings, like an unmanned bulldozer, destroying everything (and everyone) in his path, as he salutes Grodin's snooty female client on the size of her cleavage, and refers to uber-powerful Japanese business mogul Sakamoto (Mako) as "Big Sak." Moreover, Grodin proves himself the master of the slow burn, as he gets pummeled, soiled, shoved into a dumpster, and eventually forced to wear ladies' pants and walk ten miles in the driving rain; the indignities he suffers are truly hilarious, and he turns in a finely modulated comic performance. Hiller and company grace this much underrated film with a gifted supporting cast, including Hector Elizondo, Anne de Salvo, Veronica Hamel, and the radiant Loryn Locklin. ~ Nathan Southern, All Movie Guide
 

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General Specifications: Language Options: English Subtitle Options: English Sound Processing: DD5.1: Dolby Digital w/ sub-woofer channel Additional Features: Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround Sound Full screen (1.33:1) DVD Aspect Ratio: 1.33:1: Pre-1954 Standard MPAA Rating: R DVD Discs Included: 1 DVD Sides: 1 DVD DVD Region Code: 1 Content Length: 108 min   DVD Chapters: Side #1 -- 0. Chapter Selection 1. Opening Titles/World Series Tickets [9:28] 2. Canceled Plans [9:45] 3. Filofax [10:55] 4. A Very Important Meeting [10:28] 5. The Real Spencer Barnes [13:39] 6. Honesty Is the Key to Success [:58] 7. Dinner Date [6:39] 8. Who Are You? [9:43] 9. The World Series [7:49] 10. On the Run [9:15] 11. Breaking Back In [4:44] 12. A Great Team/End Credits [9:22]