Movie Reviews

Dinner for Schmucks


I went and saw this movie with my brother about a week or two after it came out.  I didn't have huge expectations for it but I like Paul Rudd and Steve Carell.  The story follows Tim Conrad (Paul Rudd), a financial executive trying to work his way up.  When a promotion opportunity reveals itself, Conrad is eager to take advantage.  The opportunity, he finds out, is a dinner run by his boss where the other executives bring "unique" guest along with them that they can all make fun of with the guests never being the wiser.  Conrad knows nobody like this until later that day, he meets Barry Speck (Steve Carell) when he accidentally hits him with his car.  Speck works for the IRS and in his spare time, he likes to make dioramas with mice he has found.  Speck jumps at the opportunity to have dinner with his new friend.  Speck hangs around Conrad after he shows up the day before the actual dinner because he thinks it's the right date.  Conrad's life starts spiraling out of control with the introduction of Speck and his idiotic and naive behavior.  Everything from Conrad's relationship with his girlfriend to his relationship with a potential new client are all affected by Speck hanging around him.  In the end, they both learn valuable things about each other, yadda yadda yadda.  Now, I love Steve Carell in "The Office" and this character is basically Michael Scott with less authority.  Carell is great at playing the lovable idiot and this role is no different.  All of the characters are well played but overall, the story was just average at best.  My favorite character was Keiren Vollard, played by Jemaine Clement of "Flight of the Conchords".  He plays an artist that is trying to get Conrad's girlfriend to curate his next show.  Clement is brilliant at playing monotone characters whose outlook and behavior is absurd.  He cares about his work but is completely vain in every other way imaginable and, while I might be slightly biased because I enjoyed "Flight of the Conchords" so much, he steals every scene he is in.  Most of the jokes are cliched and never go past a chuckle.  It is certainly not the worst comedy I've seen but the movie moves on like it only needs Carell's character work and nothing else.  Carell plays his part perfectly and Clement was a nice surprise but overall the movie is lacking in real creativity and genuine laughs.  6.5/10 (Review by The Yellow)