07-05-10 Men at Work (1990)

Seen: May 7th, 2007
Format: Broadcast - HDNet Movies (HDNMV)
Rating: 4

Emilio Estevez has written and directed several films. His most recent garnered some fairly serious attention and critical acclaim.

This is not that film.

Men at Work is not a terrible film, but it's nothing to write home about. It seems like practice to me. Its a very conventional genre film in most ways. It's an ecological crime drama comedy. It takes its cues from the cop buddy film and moves it to a pair of less conventional characters.

It relies heavily on comedic elements, most of them contrived and some really not very funny. Kidnapping a bystander, hauling a dead body around, these are staples elsewhere, but in the end, the don't add much to the mix.

There is some rather amusing dialogue and characterization around Estevez and Sheen's characters. They play well off each other, and I'm sure that being brothers helped quite a bit. But it's really not enough to carry the film.

Essentially Estevez was honing his writing craft when he made this film. By sticking to a conventional framework, he could work on certain areas without worrying too much about others. He he seems most concerned about dialouge and scene construction here. On the directorial front, pacing seems to be the focus.

Ultimately there's not much here. It's forumlaic and dated. It really doesn't break any new ground and it's nothing if not predeictable. There's some loose ends that aren't really resolved, but they're not really that important.

But I really can't hate this film. There's a certain sincerity to the way it was made that makes it all a bit forgivable. The characters have a few endearing quirks and there are a few truly humorous moments.

The Good: Brotherly love

The Bad: Nothing new here

The Ugly: Dead body humor