Turnover

On the crew’s first day of work, Henry is a no-show, and everyone is forced to make the best of the next few days with no leadership. When Peter returns, no one knows who he is, and Peter realizes that Henry has screwed him and his restaurant. Can this band of misfits get their act together and turn a profit? Can Peter turn this unlikely crew into a well-oiled machine? Will every member learn something new about themselves and in turn, use this new knowledge to better themselves, their lives, and the business?

Turnover is an incredibly lite, feel-good drama…with emphasis on feel good. It seeks to find the best in all of us, while taking a group of people that society ignores and empowers them to become a team and succeed. While there are funny moments, Turnover is decidedly not a comedy. It’s a story of happy endings. I say this not as criticism, but just a way to manage expectations going into the film.

“…hits on themes of teamwork, friendship, charity, and service to those in need.”

Adding onto the good feelings, Turnover’s story hits on themes of teamwork, friendship, charity, and service to those in need. Of course, everyone has their hang-ups at the start, like Pepper’s rocky relationship with her mother, Peter and his contentious divorce, William’s lack of confidence, Miguel’s aging mother. There’s a lot of emotions going on in this film.

For the most part, Turnover is a good film for those in need of positivity. Its real weakness comes in its runtime of almost two hours. There’s a lot of story here, and from the start, it doesn’t establish its lead character as Peter until thirty minutes in, because he’s on vacation for two weeks. Henry starts as sympathetic because he’s getting screwed over by Fran, but ultimately becomes the “villain” of the film. In the third act, as the storylines are starting to wrap-up, a plot twist happens to Peter, which makes the film drag out a little longer.

Turnover is a good, heartwarming story of strangers working together toward a common goal to not only succeed in business but become an unlikely family. It’s light tone, keeps Turnover from reaching greatness and rising above other feel-good films, but still works with solid storytelling and likable characters.