“EMILLLIIOOOOOO!!!!”
Another underrated gem. Men at Work is unfairly thrown into the “not quite cracking it” bin at the video shop along with the countless thousands of crappy comedies that are released annually and fail to find an audience.
OK if you’ve seen it you are probably rolling your eyes now, and I can see that.
So why do I love this movie then? You’ve got me, I just do. It must have been the perfect film for me at that time, because I loved it when I watched it 20 odd years or so ago and I love it now, even though I know almost every line well before they are said.
The plot for what it is worth. 2 garbagemen come across a dead body in their daily pick up. They incorrectly assume that they are somehow involved (not really a long story but not important here), and spend the rest of the film dealing with the consequences and trying to avoid the attention of those really responsible.
James (Emilio Estevez) and Carl (Charlie Sheen) are the two “Working Men”, they aresurfin’, drinkin’, loafin’ dudes with dreams of owning a surf shop and no everyday aspirations greater than minimising work and pissing off the other garbos and local cops.
Into their lackadaisical existence comes Louis (Keith David), an combat vet assigned to make sure Carl and James are good boys on the job, much to their disgust. Keith David steals the movie for mine, his bizarre rants and resentment of all authority causes him to act in generally insane ways and to jump to random conclusion with no basis in logic, he even gets away with an early Weekend at Bernie’s moment and makes it funny.
As the movie rolls along a love interest and the pizzaman get involved, the real killers close in and the boys discover the full scope of what faces them. Being a lightweight comedy the characters coincidentally and conveniently keep running into each other, kinda like Crash a few years ago but with laughs and less clumsiness. (I still hate Crash.)
This is at times cheesy, always likeable and totally unassuming fare that was definitely not made with awards consideration in mind. To explain the jokes without transcribing them is pointless, but I find that more than most hit the mark and I would rather watch this 27 more times than have to put up with another cookie cutter Will Ferrell or Rob Schneider yawnfest.
And it’ll cost you a buck to rent for a week if you are lucky enough to find it. What’s the worst that could happen?
Final Rating – 8 / 10. EMILLLLLIOOO!!!!!
