Some laughs, still a clunker

Although Will Ferrell materializes for a goofball cameo, The Goods: Live Hard, Sell Hard lacks a key element that his Talladega Nights and Anchor Man both had - that is, somebody to like. Never mind the self-deluded obliviousness exhibited by Ferrell's dunderheaded Ricky Bobby and Ron Burgundy - they were harmless, hapless, essentially well-meaning guys.

Jeremy Piven's Don Ready is another story. The Goods - from the same crowd that steered Talladega Nights and Anchor Man into theaters - trades in a similarly politically incorrect brand of comedy, but there's nothing likable about the character. Don Ready is a fast-talking car salesman, a hustler and a huckster, who comes to Temecula, Calif., to save Selleck Motors from bankruptcy.

His goal: move 211 cars over one Fourth of July weekend. His method: anything that works.

Piven, carrying his first film after a long career of sideline schlumps and hard-case character parts (and, of course, Ari Gold in Entourage), has a nasty word for everybody. Don Ready's smile is more like a sneer. He's slick and ethically shabby, and he has a posse of dubious cohorts, played by Ving Rhames, David Koechner, and Kathryn Hahn.

With James Brolin as the car lot's eponymous (and closeted gay) proprietor, and guest spots from anyone who did time on Jon Stewart's Daily Show, The Goods is not without its share of laughs.

But the laughs come with contempt and condescension, not empathy.EndText