Men at Work (film)

Men at Work
Theatrical release poster
Directed by	Emilio Estevez
Produced by	Cassian Elwes
Written by	Emilio Estevez
Starring	Charlie Sheen Emilio Estevez Leslie Hope Keith David Dean Cameron John Getz
Music by	Stewart Copeland
Cinematography	Tim Suhrstedt
Editing by	Craig Bassett
Distributed by	Triumph Releasing Corporation
Release date(s)	August 24, 1990 (USA)
Running time	98 min.
Country	USA
Language	English
Budget	Unknown
Box office	$16,247,964 (USA)

Men at Work is a 1990 American action comedy film written and directed by Emilio Estevez, and starring Estevez and his real life brother Charlie Sheen.

Plot

Carl Taylor (Sheen) and James St. James (Estevez) are a pair of troublemaking garbagemen who dream of owning a surf shop. The two uncover an illegal toxic dumping operation in their own city, Las Playas. The movie begins with the pair collecting trash as they usually do, by tossing garbage cans in the street and making noise that disturbs the residents. One of the local cops hassles them frequently, but Carl and James seem to have gotten used to this treatment.

After work, the pair spies on a woman living across the street with a telescope; they discover that she is being mistreated by a man who is with her. Determined to right the wrong, Carl shoots the man in the rear with a pellet gun. He and James both hide and laugh. Shortly afterwards, the man - a local politician named Jack Berger - is strangled and ends up found the next day by Carl and James in a yellow can. They decide that turning in the body would implicate themselves, as they had shot him earlier.

Carl and James ask the advice of crazed Vietnam War vet Louis Fedders (Keith David), who helps them to stash the body. Carl goes over to meet Susan Wilkins (Leslie Hope), the woman who they saw with Berger the night before. Louis ends up exacerbating the situation when he kidnaps a pizza delivery man who sees him with the body.

James, Louis, and the pizza man end up leaving the apartment to follow Carl and Susan, but they are pulled over by the cops from earlier in the movie. Louis, however, uses the pellet gun to get them out of trouble. Meanwhile, Carl and Susan are discovered by the hitmen who had killed Berger. The couple are eventually stuffed into cans and set to be disposed of in a lake that serves as an illegal toxic dump for a local businessman, Maxwell Potterdam III, who was also the man who had Berger killed.

Carl and Susan manage to escape from the cans and reunite with the others. The group fights the toxic dump workers and brings down Potterdam.

Cast

• Charlie Sheen – Carl Taylor
• Emilio Estevez – James St. James
• Keith David – Louis Fedders
• Leslie Hope – Susan Wilkins
• Dean Cameron – Pizza Man
• John Getz – Maxwell Potterdam III
• Hawk Wolinski – Biff
• John Lavachielli – Mario
• Geoffrey Blake – Frost
• Cameron Dye – Luzinski
• John Putch – Mike
• Tommy Hinkley – Jake
• Darrell Larson – Jack Berger
• Sy Richardson – Walt Richardson
• Troy Evans – Captain Dalton
• Jim "Poorman" Trenton – Narrator

Production

The original screenplay was tentatively titled Clear Intent and slated to star another Brat Packer alongside Estevez.^[1] The majority of the movie was shot in Redondo Beach and Hermosa Beach in California.

Reception

The film was not critically well-received, earning only a 35% rating on Rotten Tomatoes.^[2] Considering its relatively small production budget, Men at Work did well in theaters, grossing $16,247,964 USD, $3,184,311 of that within the first week.^[3]

Soundtrack

Men at Work (Rhino/Wea, July 18, 1990)

1. "Wear You to the Ball" - UB40
2. "Super Cool" - Sly & Robbie
3. "Big Pink House" - Tyrants in Therapy
4. "Feeling Good" - Pressure Drop
5. "Back to Back" - Blood Brothers
6. "Take Heed" - Black Uhuru
7. "Here and Beyond" - Sly & Robbie
8. "Truthful" - Blood Brothers
9. "Reggae Ambassador" - Third World
10. "Give a Little Love" - Ziggy Marley & the Melody Makers
11. "Playas Dawn" - Stewart Copeland
12. "Pink Panther No. 23" - Stewart Copeland

References

1. ^ Blum, David (1985-06-10). "Hollywood's Brat Pack". New York Magazine: 45. 
2. ^ Men at Work at Rotten Tomatoes
3. ^ Men at Work at Box Office Mojo

External links

• Men at Work at the Internet Movie Database
• Men at Work at AllRovi