The Story:
As the movie opens, we are introduced to the characters. Ralph (George Carlin) is a blue collar worker who owes some money, and has a hit man after him. Freddy (Ben Stiller) is a young financial genius who interviews at a broker's office (for none other than Dan Castellaneta)…and ends up as a janitor, working beside Ralph!

Ah. What a teaming of comic timing, right? Well, let's get the bitter truth out of the way. Working Trash is a made-for-TV movie from 1990! George Carlin and not a four-letter word within ear shot. Ben Stiller without any zipper problems. This is clean fun, folks. It's definitely not the worst movie I've ever seen, but it's not a standout film either.

It seemed like a sterile, male take on Working Girl. Which it was. For starters, I witnessed bad visual gags, including clumsy falls and man-eating office machines. George Carlin's edgy comic delivery was not really present. And Ben Stiller was playing the straight guy—nothing about Mary, Zoolander, or Focker. I must confess, it was a refreshing break from all that idiocy that, in my opinion, has always been pretty unfunny and routine.

So anyway, Ralph and Freddy find a confidential file in a trashcan while cleaning offices—and it gives them insider information for investing. So they go to in-house broker Susan (Leslie Hope), and begin raking in the bux with a series of good investments. Of course, after their first windfall, Freddy, a financial genius who is determined to be a broker, begins to apply his real knowledge of the market instead of cheating. The pair uses the money for good causes, and soon there's a group of blue collar fellow workers who depend on them to invest their dollars right.

What kind of fun would such a simple romp be without a sinister villain to thwart our heroes? This time, it's an evil broker who is pulling some money scams himself…and Ralph and Freddy must prove it to protect their blue collar reputations—and so Freddy can prove to Susan that he's the man for her.

Despite all the clichés, the predictable plot, and the obvious made-for-TV feel (there was that horrible 80s pop formula soundtrack music behind every non-dialogue scene, as well as fashion styles that were at that "the 80s are over, but we don't know what the 90s are supposed to look like yet" stage), I must admit that as the movie progressed, I became entertained by the performances of the leads. George Carlin made me laugh out loud with his charisma and funny expressions—warming up as the film progressed, and Ben Stiller was charming in this early roll. Having said that, however, I must admit, the only way I would have enjoyed this movie if I'd caught it on my own time is if it had been while jumping around channels with the remote and landing on a network that was airing this made-for-TV movie.

The DVD

Video:
The movie is presented in its original made-for-TV standard full screen, 1:33:1 aspect ratio. I began watching in Progressive Scan mode on my DVD player. That was a mistake. You don't want to see the finer details of this print. The entire image looked like an art student had taken a pencil and cross-hatched shadow across the screen. Watching in standard scan helped disguise that a bit, but the effect was still noticeable. The film's colors are washed out, the edges were too soft and lacked sharp detail, and the blacks were extremely dark. Like, PITCH black. There were also hints of print wear.

Sound:
The 2-channel stereo sound was crystal clear, with excellent left/right channel separation and an excessive subwoofer response.

Extras:
You are given a nice assortment of language options. There is the stereo English track, plus mono tracks of English, French or Spanish. You also have the options of subtitles in English or Spanish.

There is also a commentary with the director and the producer. Although they don't speak much to each other (not a lot of banter) they offer plenty of anecdotes about the making of the film, behind the scenes situations and working with the cast.

Final Thoughts:
Working Trash is a simple and obvious comedy starring Ben Stiller in an early role and George Carlin in a censored role—since this movie was made-for-TV. Consider it a male version of Working Girl that would best be enjoyed if you happened to catch it on TV on a rainy weekend. It's nothing like the type of movie you would expect from either of its stars, and the DVD is just not something you'd want to invest much time or money in.