I am not a big network TV guy, so although I have heard of Romano and James, I have never really watched either of their hit shows, but I wanted to check this one out because its always good to laugh every once in a while.
Well, laugh I did, because this one is funny, folks. Maurice (Romano) and Dave (James) are sales partners for a meat company. Yes, they follow leads and go door to door trying to sell high quality meat. Right off the bat, you can guess some of the one liners and funny situations with that premise. (Although, as a guy who has bought plenty of cuts from Omaha Steaks, I really never thought of it as a funny thing until I got into this flick) Not surprisingly, both Maurice and Dave are a little down on their luck with bringing in the sales quota (that is not a spoiler...think about it...in a movie-especially a comedy-the sales guy(s) have to be down on their luck for their to be an interesting story) and, in addition to the pressure of their jobs hanging over their heads, they both have personal reasons to hit the big sale. Maurice needs his commission to pay for his last semester of school in order to become a doctor, Dave wants to buy his daughter the top of the line swing set she wants and, implicitly, impress his skeptical ex-wife.
Well, as anyone who has dabbled in sales knows, a desperate salesman is a dead salesman, and the first few minutes of the movie deal with the two of them running into every sort of dead end and making the crucial sales mistake, e.g. Maurice complimenting the interested prospect on his picture of himself with NFL football coaching legend John Madden, only to have the unbelieving man softly say "that's my mother".
On their last lead, the two run into the sultry Loridonna (Sofia Vergana) an interested prospect who has an eye for Maurice and is just about to sign the big order when she is pulled away by a frantic call from her friend Suzanne (Juliette Lewis) who is, again, contemplating suicide. The three rush over to intervene, the order still not having been signed.
From there, Maurice and Dave are witnesses to a hit on Suzanne's mobster boyfriend and, after taking the time to try to sell some cuts and a refrigerator to the hit men, end up being kidnapped to a club where the bar mitzvah of a young man is taking place. It seems that they hit guys also want to whack the father (Burt Reynolds) of the bar mitzvah boy that night.
Sound silly? Of course, but this is well acted and directed. The chemistry between the two lead actors is wonderful and, I heard from a friend that they are actually close friends in real life as well. Doesn't surprise me. Additionally, the supporting cast is hilarious as well. Juliette Lewis stands out as the scatter brained, ditzy girl who really starts the boulder going downhill, as they say, for Maurice and Dave. Michael Rappaport is funny as one of the disbelieving hit men and Burt Reynolds, to me, has always been as much of a comedic star as an action hero and he shows it again in this one.
Also, the laughs are there without the annoying tendency of some recent comedies to delve into the adolescent "toilet humor" and bodily function stuff. That's a plus for me. Sure, there is some play with double entendres ("you can't beat our meat"), mild profanity and some violence, but its-I'm serious-all in fun. In other words, fans over 15 will appreciate this, I think.
So, if it means anything coming from me, Grilled is well worth a shot...and I think you just might like it a lot.
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