Grilled (film)

Premise

Maurice (Romano) and Dave (James) are door-to-door meat salesmen who need to make a sale to keep their jobs. After several unsuccessful attempts, they meet Loridonna (Sofia Vergara), who is interested in the guys as well as what they are selling. They arrive as she is on the phone with a desperate friend and she convinces Maurice and Dave to drive her to the friend's house, who turns out to be Mafia princess Suzanne (Juliette Lewis). Once there, they encounter mobster Tony (Kim Coates) and two hitmen.

Plot summary

Maurice and Dave try but fail to sell steaks to people through a mail service. Tired of their incompetence, their boss gives them cards with the names and addresses of their highest buyers, warning that this is their last chance. Dave loses all but one of the cards. It leads to a woman named Loridonna.

Loridonna is on the phone with her friend Suzanne, who has swallowed a fish and needs help. Loridonna lies that Dave is a doctor and gives him the phone; while Dave is talking to Suzanne, Loridonna talks seductively about wanting Maurice's "meat". Turned on, Maurice tries to seal a deal, but Dave says Suzanne wants to kill herself. They drive Loridonna to Suzanne's house, where they discover that she's an alcoholic whose suicide was a false alarm.

Loridonna and Maurice begin making out, and Suzanne's husband Tony comes home and catches them, but he casually changes clothes while telling Maurice that she was once a man. She confirms this and tries to explain, but Maurice is too disappointed (and disgusted) to care. Tony then attempts to kill Dave, thinking he tried to seduce Suzanne. After explaining, Dave and Tony become friendly. Tony begins to grill some steaks, then is ambushed, shot, and killed by two hitmen.

Finding some of Tony's guns, Dave and Maurice fight back. The hitmen put them into the trunk of their car and leave them there while attending a party. Maurice manages to get out, then sees Goldbluth, a name from the cards they got from their boss. After freeing Dave, they start describing to party guests the tenderness of their steaks. The hitmen return looking for them. Dave is unable to leave because Goldbluth is rambling on. He signs a contract to buy meat, so they warn Goldbluth that two hitmen are here to kill him. Dave gives Goldbluth the gun Tony had when he was killed.

Maurice and Dave drive off, looking back to see shots fired. Goldbluth comes out without a scratch. Maurice and Dave return to their boss with seven orders and $21,000 up front from Goldbluth. The film ends with them having a barbecue with Dave's family.

Release

Grilled was originally titled Men Don't Quit, and was set for a worldwide theatrical release in 2005. Poor test screenings pushed it back, and the film went straight to video under its new title.

Cast

Home media

On the North American Region 1 DVD, bonus features include a single deleted scene, a making-of featurette, and a documentary on Romano and James' real-life friendship.