Taking Care of Business (1990)

Be ready to laugh! Very well done by everyone in front of the camera & behind it. Interesting social implications & it a comedy. Grodin & Belushi are casted perfectly & are a great counterpoint to each other. Unfortunately comedies don't get their deserved respect. The snobby professional critics are too wrapped up to even pay much attention to such a movie, but I found it worthy & will talk it up as a fun-packed delight. Is that so bad? Certainly not! It was fun to see so many actors & actresses that I recognized & appreciate. Movie-making is an act of suspended belief, so any film does not need to be totally believable or factual. But any story needs to be entertaining, & in this the film delivers.

I fell in love with this movie the first time I saw it, although the script is not brilliant the cast made a great effort and made it very convincing, James Belushi plays nice guy convict Jimmy Dworfski as he plans to escape prison for the weekend to see the Chicago Cubs in the World Series, getting his fellow in-mates to cover it up. While out he finds business executive Spencer Barnes (Charles Grodin) filofax and takes over his life. Belushi & Grodin are great together in this feel good comedy, as a lover of Baseball I was drawn to this even more, but if you're not you'll still find it just as enjoyable. This is the best James Belushi film I've seen!

This movie was one of the funniest James Belushi films. He is ideal as a convict who wins tickets to the Cubs' World Series game, has to break out of jail to attend, get his fellow inmates to cover for him, and break back in before the warden knows what has happened. In between, he finds uptight executive Charles Grodin's little black book and assumes Grodin's life, turning it upside down and being a better "him" while he poses as Grodin.Belushi and Grodin are magnificent in the leads, and the film is overall very funny. See it if you get the chance; you will not regret it! I happened to love it myself.*** out of ****

In "Taking Care of Business," James Belushi escapes from prison to see the Cubs in the World Series. He finds the datebook of overworked Charles Grodin and assumes Grodin's identity. The film is somewhat enjoyable, yet through it all I couldn't quite shake the feeling that I've seen all this before. There's not much that's original here. Grodin, saves the film. As always, he's a treat to watch. A big downside to the movie is that it has about 2 endings too many. But, it's not a complete loss, director Arthur Hiller has certainly done worse...he's also done much better.