A simple enough idea…invite a bunch of complete morons to a dinner party and make fun of them, the guy who brings the funniest idiot has corporate glory in his future. However, like all good things problems must arise, silly little things like growing a conscience or a girlfriend who’s going to leave you if you partake or God forbid becoming friends with your chosen idiot. Tim (Paul Rudd) is on the cusp of running with the big dogs at his company, just a step away from making it to the executive ranks. That step comes to him in the form of Barry (Steve Carell), an IRS employee and part time mouse taxidermist who Tim hits with his car. Tim is immediately struck by the oddness that is Barry and sees his ticket to the next level by inviting Barry as his guest to the aforementioned dinner party. A movie starring Paul Rudd with Steve Carrell as a loveable moron and it even has Zach Galifianakis? It’s gotta be hilarious, right? Well yes and no with the scales trending toward yes.
Carell is without a doubt the shining star of this movie. Not only is he hilarious in every scene but he has a knack for putting off that “guy you feel bad for” vibe which makes some of the emotional scenes work that may have failed with another actor in the role. Rudd, unfortunately, is wasted in this flick. With no funny moments all his own, save for a 20 second segment of him walking with a hurt back, Rudd’s usually hysterical deadpan delivery has nothing to deliver. He really just serves as the vehicle used to deliver Carell. Also disappointing was Galifianakis as Therman, Barry’s mind reading, wife stealing co-worker. He and Carell have a good chemistry and I can see potential for them to do some funny stuff together in the future, it just doesn’t happen in this movie. Their interactions, and Galifianakis’s entire role for that matter, consist of a one note joke that starts out funny but quickly moves to silly then just plain annoying. I will give credit where it’s due…like I said Carell is great and reason enough to see the movie. Also on the side of good is Jermaine Clement, who you might know from Flight of the Concorde’s, who’s great as Kieran Vollard an eccentric artist who works with Tim’s girlfriend Robin (Andrea Savage) and provides a few of the films funnier, if not stranger moments.
Dinner for Schmucks is one of those odd movies that’s funny enough to have you laughing in your seat, yet still leave the theater feeling just a bit let down. Maybe it was the lack of humor in Paul Rudd’s character or it could have been the fact that story is thrown out the window in favor of a gimmicked climax… whatever it was it brought the enjoyment level of the movie down a notch. That being said the movie still ends up doing what it intends to do, which is make you laugh. This one will probably be forgotten until it’s permanently ingrained in our brains by much repeated HBO viewing. It’s certainly not top 10 material, but can provide an entertaining 90 minutes. My recommendation? Wait for the DVD it’s worth a watch, just not with a $10 per person price tag.
2.5 out of 5 Guttenbergs
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