4.8 /10 1 Votes
31% Rotten Tomatoes Produced by Geoffrey Taylor Box office 20.01 million USD | 6.4/10 IMDb Initial release 17 August 1990 Budget 14 million USD | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Written by Jill MazurskyJ.J. Abrams Starring James BelushiCharles GrodinAnne De SalvoMakoVeronica HamelHéctor Elizondo Cast Similar Jim Belushi movies, Baseball movies, Comedies | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Taking Care of Business is an 1990 American comedy film, starring James Belushi and Charles Grodin. It was directed by Arthur Hiller.
Contents
The film was released in the United Kingdom under the title Filofax. The movie's name matches the title song, Takin' Care of Business, by Randy Bachman, recorded by the Canadian rock group Bachman–Turner Overdrive (BTO).
Plot
A convicted car thief and diehard Chicago Cubs fan, Jimmy Dworski (Belushi) wins tickets to the World Series. Unfortunately, he still has a couple of days left to serve in prison and the warden (Héctor Elizondo) won't let him leave and come back. With the help of other inmates, Jimmy stages a riot so he can sneak out of prison to see the game. On the way, he finds the filofax of uptight and spineless yuppie advertising executive Spencer Barnes (Grodin), which promises a reward if it is found.
Over the next day, Jimmy takes on Barnes' identity —- staying in the Malibu beach house of Spencer's boss, flirting with the boss's daughter, even taking a meeting with a powerful Japanese food company magnate named Sakamoto (Mako Iwamatsu). The fake "Spencer"'s unorthodox methods, such as beating the magnate at tennis and telling him about the poor quality of his food products, gets the attention of the taken aback Sakamoto. However his unconventional negotiations with the food company insults some of the executives, seemingly ruining Spencer's reputation. Meanwhile, lacking his precious filofax, the real Spencer Barnes is spiraling into the gutter. Losing all his clothes, his car and money, he has to rely on an old college acquaintance, the neurotic and overbearing Debbie Lipton (Anne De Salvo) who keeps trying to rekindle a relationship with him.
Finally Jimmy and Spencer come together at a meeting with the advertising executives, where Spencer is sacked by his boss. As a consolation Jimmy takes Spencer to the World Series, where Jimmy makes a spectacular catch on a home-run ball hit by Mark Grace, who makes a cameo. When security goes after Jimmy, who was spotted on the Jumbotron, they escape by using Spencer's filofax to slide down a support wire and out of the stadium. Spencer patches up his marriage with his wife, who had become exasperated with his overworking. Jimmy sneaks back into prison with Spencer's help, serves his last couple of hours and is released, only to find Spencer waiting to pick him up. With the promise of a beautiful girlfriend and a well-paying job in advertising working with Spencer, Jimmy's future looks bright, as does that of his beloved Cubs, who won the World Series.
Cast
Reception
The film gained negative reviews.
Production
Baseball scenes for Taking Care of Business were filmed at Angel Stadium of Anaheim in California.
The film grossed $20 million in the USA.
