Dinner For Schmucks (2010)

Trailers before the film:
It's Kind of a Funny Story - another oddball flick with Zach Galifianakis
Wall Street 2 - barf!
The Social Network - an excellent trailer
Morning Glory- Harrison Ford speaks like Frankenstein at this point in life

Feature Presentation:
Dinner For Schmucks is the same type of film it presented itself to be in the trailer. The low brow and sophomoric jokes were in the same tier and taste as Dumb and Dumber, although it did not reach the the greatness of the latter. But that's really hard to do and coming close is an accomplishment. A few weeks back, I posted on how much I was looking forward to seeing it in the theater based on the trailer causing me serious laugh fits, so now I wanted to see how the film played out as a whole. Throughout the nation, many reviewers were very harsh on this film, especially for a flick of this caliber, but I went into it with much anticipation and my hopes high.



The plot in a few sentences
Tim (Paul Rudd) must find a simpleton to attend his boss Fender's (Bruce Greenwood) party; a gathering and contest where Fender's main executive staff brings weirdos to the party in order to make fun of them. Tim needs his simpleton to win the contest in order to secure his much needed promotion and believes divine intervention had him run into Barry (Steve Carell). Barry is the mice diorama-creating master that is just the fool to win first place for him. In Tim's mind, this promotion will also impress his girlfriend (Stephanie Szostak) who is subtlety being courted by her employer, a rich and eccentric artist named Kieran (Jermaine Clement).

After Tim and Barry meet, of course everything that could possibly go wrong does go wrong and sets hilarious situations into motion for the film's remaining running time. Rudd and Carell are dead-on as the film's protagonists, but other big laughs are provided by Zach Galifianakis (who plays Barry's mortal nemesis and master if mind control, Therman), the aforementioned Clement and a surprise turn by Tim's stalker Darla (played wonderfully by Lucy Punch). In fact, Punch has such a critical part in the film's most hilarious and howl-worthy scene in my opinion. While this film is mainly a vehicle for the team of Rudd-Carell, the film would not have been as successful or interesting without the excellent casting choices for the supporting roles.



By the film's conclusion, my suspected fear was not realized: while the trailer gave away a good deal of the jokes, there are plenty more hilarious moments to experience that the trailer did not reveal. Sometimes the people behind comedy trailers go all-out and show all of the film's best gags, then leave no real funny material that for the viewer to discover once they pay to watch the whole movie. Luckily that did not happen here, so rest assured if you were worried about that as well. You get some serious chuckles with stuff they have nit been showing you in the ads.

Overall the film was everything I thought it would be. I literally lol'ed for a majority of the flick and the packed house was in hysterics as well. Sure it helps to have a lively audience, but that just added to the hilarity I was witnessing on the screen. The film is funny and full of misunderstandings and misinterpretations that were made in the vain of a film version of Three's Company with a 2000's twist. These situations lead to some awkward moments that give the film its character.

Unfortunately there are some bad things that stop this film from being up there (or should I say down there) with Dumb and Dumber. One big critique from me is that the film is too long for a comedy. Thanks to Judd Apatow, all comedic filmmakers feel they have a right to extend past 100 minutes of running time to feel a part of the hip, new echelon of comedic film standards. Too bad Forgetting Sarah Marshall was the only recent comedy to extend past that running time without the sense of it being dragged out, but even that could have used some slight trimming. Schmucks could have cut some corners and that is the main detractor.



The other negative is the female lead Szostak. Her performance is nothing to write home about and her character is pretty unlikable. She is too non-supportive and has real trust issues while being completely oblivious to advances by a man other than her boyfriend. This is not a good combination of qualities for someone you want as your life partner. Not a deal breaker by any means but her character could use a little rewrite. I was hoping the whole time that they would NOT get together 5 minutes into the flick and that is not something you want to feel for your male and female leads involved in an intimate relationship.



Dinner For Schmucks is a great film to see if you are into some dumb humor ala Dumb and Dumber and if you were turned onto to seeing it by the trailer. If the trailer made you think you lost a few I.Q. points, avoid. If you are looking for some deep meaning in a comedic film, avoid. I thought it was hilarious even though it was a bit long in the tooth, I was glad to get some late summer laughs at the cinema. It seems as though director Jay Roach accomplished what he set out to do: create a film to attract lovers of low brow comedy films that would make film snobs angry and complain about it on message boards. So well done with that one, Roach!