Dinner for Schmucks (2010)

Alright, this is my first movie review, but I wanted to give it a try, so go easy on me. 

A play off of Francis Veber's hit French comedy, The Dinner Game, Dinner for Schmucks stars Steve Carell and Paul Rudd as the main odd couple (there are several) for this "dinner party."  Paul Rudd plays Tim, a mid-level analyst who is trying to work his way up the food chain in his company.  At the beginning of the movie, he takes a huge risk and steps up to the "7th Floor" guys, offering to them a proposal which will make a lot of money centered around managing the account of Mueller, a large Swedish man who lives a lavish life style through his multibillion dollar inheritance.  When he says he would like to front the operation, the 7th Floor gives him a resounding guffaw.  However, they then pull him aside and tell him that if he really does want to join them on the 7th Floor, he'll have to prove his worth at a dinner party the company's namesake, Lance Fender, holds once a month.  Each person invited to the dinner must bring an idiot of sorts as well; at the end of the night, the person who brings the biggest idiot wins a prize.  If Tim wants to be up on the 7th Floor, he's going to have to win that prize.

As the story progresses, various characters are introduced: Julie, played by Stephanie Szostak, is his beautiful girlfriend who so happens to be a currator in charge of a gallery holding the works of an aritst named Kieran, played by Flight of the Conchords Jemaine Clement.  Julie ends up giving Tim a hard time about the dinner and assumes he's not attending; however, as Tim is heading in to tell Fender he can not attend, he runs into Steve Carell, literally.  As Tim hits Steve Carell, playing Barry, with his Porsche, up in the air go Barry's "Mouse-terpieces."  After things settle, Tim takes the sign of Barry dropping in front of his car that he has to attend this dinner.  What sort of idiot is Barry?  His "Mouse-terpieces" are recreations of famous paintings and scenes using dead mice.  Later on, we meet Darla, Tim's crazy ex hook-up; Therman, played by Zach Galifianakis, who works for the IRS with Barry, as well as Caldwell, played by Ron Livingston, a suit on the 7th Floor who is Tim's main competition at the dinner party.

As far as the story goes, its fairly straight forward and consists of your typical series of unfortunate events.  As Tim is trying to work things out with his company and his girlfriend, Barry manages to step in and screw everything up.  Even though Barry screws things up, one can only feel endearment towards him and his lovable quirkiness.  Paul Rudd plays a character he seems to have grown into, which is the man who is trying to work his way up in his company, happens to be dating a smoking hottie, but manages to screw things up with her one way or another, only to have everything go his way in the end.  Now, don't get me wrong, I love Paul Rudd; he first caught my attention as Kunu in Forgetting Sarah Marshall (2008).  After that, I started to realize that he had played a lot of other roles I really enjoyed in other movies, such as David in The 40 Year Old Virgin (2005) and Brian in Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy (2004) (Brian Fantana: "They've done studies.  Sixty percent of the time, it works every time.").  However, he hasn't had very many shining cameos as of late and he really seems to be filling a sort of niche; the same sort of character can be seen in both Role Models (2008) and I Love You, Man (2009). 

Steve Carell, on the other hand, plays a charcter that he hasn't really seemed to play in any other major role.  His character of Barry calls to mind past characters of his, such as Brick from Anchorman.  Barry doesn't think about what he's saying and some of his quite peculiar lines end up being some of the funniest of the entire movie (Barry: "It's like John Lennon said, 'You may say I'm a dreamer, but I'm not.'"  Tim: "... But I'm not the only one."  Barry: "What?" Tim: "That's how it goes: 'You may say I'm a dreamer, but I'm not the only one."  Barry: "Haha, okay, Tim.").  What is more impressive about Barry is his innocence and his willingness to do anything for Tim, regardless of the situation.  While Steve Carell had begun to fill a niche character as well (the endearing, yet seemingly self-destructive husband/father), the role of Barry is incredibly refreshing for any fans of Steve Carell, especially those who, like me, were beginning to get a bit tired of him. 

The other two stand out characters have to be Kieran (Clement) and Therman (Galifianakis).  Each character is incredibly awkward and strange in their own way.  Kieran is a ballsy artist who has some sort of strange animal magnetism that only Tim seems not to notice; even Barry is impressed when he sees that he can fit an entire octopus in his mouth.  Therman, on the other and, plays a crucial role: not only does he work with Barry, but he also stole Barry's wife away from him and, more importantly, has mind control powers.  Clement and Galifiankis each play their respective roles well and manage to have sparse, yet impactful appearances.  Clement appears more frequently in the first half of the movie and Galifianakis more so in the latter.  Thankfully, Galifianakis isn't over used in Dinner for Schmucks, something I feared with his recent bandwagon overflow due to The Hangover (2009). 

While the comedy in Dinner for Schmucks isn't high class, it manages to pack quite a bunch.  Even though Barry is seemingly innocent throughout the movie, that doesn't mean that dirtier humor doesn't make an appearance, most of it coming from Barry's mouth out of ignorance.  What Dinner for Schmucks excels at is spreading how it makes you laugh over a variety of comedic delivery.  The movie will make you laugh at long winded monologues, short one liners, physical comedy, or even the slightest twitch in Barry's face.  It doesn't use one liners as a crutch and it doesn't use one character too heavily.  Both Carell and Rudd have their fair share of funny lines and the rest of the comedic dialogue is spread evenly between the other tertiary characters.

Overall, one shouldn't go into Dinner for Schmucks with high expectations.  When I told someone I was seeing it, they told me they thought it was going to be terrible.  My explanation for why I thought it was going to be good is as follows: "My expectations for this movie are so low.  I don't expect anything from it and I'm literally turning my brain off for the movie."  As a result, I had a great time.  While Dinner for Schmucks certainly has its flaws, such as a predictable plot line, poor acting from some of the less important characters, and redoing an already popular movie, some would say, not as successfully, it still manages to make you laugh.  The odd couple of Carell and Rudd really works well together and they play off each other in such a way that one wouldn't second guess they've known each other for years.  Clement and Galifianakis manage to stand out in the movie as well and really shine as the most unique and memorable characters, but they're limited in appearance time enough so that it doesn't seem like they're purposefully there to take weight off the two main characters.  I strongly recommend Dinner for Schmucks, but just remember: don't go into the movie with high expectations and you'll be fine.  Go for a laugh and nothing else.