Dinner for Schmucks (Paramount/Dreamworks)
Rated PG-13 for sequences of crude and sexual content, some partial nudity and language.
Starring Steve Carell, Paul Rudd, Zach Galifianakis, Jemaine Clement, Stephanie Szostak, Lucy Punch, Bruce Greenwood, David Walliams, Ron Livingston, Larry Wilmore, Kristen Schaal.
Written by David Guion, Michael Handelman, based on the play "Le Diner de Cons" written by Francis Veber.
Directed by Jay Roach.
GRADE: B
REVIEWSome people are kinda weird, but that doesn't mean you really want to know them. That's the basic idea behind
Dinner for Schmucks, a film adaptation of a French play out in theaters this weekend.
Paul Rudd plays Tim, a rising executive who wants to make a name for himself and gain favor with his boss Lance Fender (Bruce Greenwood). Lance holds a monthly dinner party where members of his inner-circle are required to bring a guest which is really a competition to see who can produce the biggest idiot. In order to move up in the company, Tim must impress potential new client Mueller (David Walliams) and invite a complete moron to the dinner party.
Tim soon discovers IRS employee named Barry (Steve Carell), who dabbles in mouse taxidermy. Tim's fiance Julie (Stephanie Szostak) doesn't like the idea of exploiting unsuspecting fools, and Tim reconsiders until Barry invites himself into the young couple's life, threatening their relationship.
When Julie leaves Tim on the eve of the big dinner party, Barry tries to patch things up, but only makes things worse by implicating an artist (Jemaine Clement) as Julie's new flame. Julie works as a curator for the oversexed Kieran.
As the dinner party approaches, Tim begins to realize that Barry, despite his lack of common sense or social grace is indeed a good person who does not deserve to be ridiculed. But Barry is full of surprises and actually shows up at the party, where a grand assortment of weirdos assemble, including Barry's IRS boss Therman (Zach Galifianakis), who also happens to be the man who stole away Barry's wife.
Will Tim win Julie back and move up the corporate ladder, while preserving the honor of his strange friend Barry?
Dinner for Schmucks is a funny film with funny moments, but it's perhaps a little too absurd to be a great comedy. I understand the concept of French Farce, but the plausibility of the situations and characters might be too much of a stretch. The strange characters and their odd behavior are a little too cartoon-ey at times, even though they seem sincere.
Steve Carell carries most of the comedic load in
Dinner for Schmucks, while Paul Rudd once again plays an adequate straight man. The other assorted "schmucks" are funny too, along with Clement as the eccentric self-absorbed Kieran.
Dinner for Schmucks is sweet at times with a good moral message, but it often crosses a little too often between farcical absurdity and contemporary reality. It's a fun and funny movie, but not the funniest movie of the year.
