Taking Care of Business (1990)

Jimmy Dworski (James Belushi) is in jail, but he wins a radio competition for tickets to a big baseball game. He determines to break out of jail temporarily, and goes to the airport to pick up the tickets. Meanwhile Spencer Barnes (Charles Grodin) is a rich and high-powered businessman just arriving there. Barnes relies on his Filofax, and in a moment of confusion, he leaves it at a payphone; Dworski picks it up.

At first Dworski is just going to return it and get a small reward, but in an interesting twist on identity-exchange films, he enters Barnes' house, and fulfils some of his engagements, surprisingly successfully. Meanwhile Barnes has no credit cards and no identification, and gets into more and more trouble. They eventually meet up, and after initial tension agree to co-operate.

Back at the jail there is a minor riot going on, and Dworski goes there impersonating his own Mother, with Barnes as a catholic priest, to defuse the situation. As Dworski hasn't yet been missed, this ties up some of the loose ends, although there are a million unexplained ones. Nonetheless it's a nice, amiable and rather underrated comedy.

HF January 2004

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