Movie Review: Dinner For Schmuck's - Simply Funny

Steve Carell & Paul Rudd

Movie: Dinner For Schmucks
Starring: Steve Carell, Paul Rudd, Stephanie Szostak, Zach Galifianakis
Director: Jay Roach

 Comedies don't come much simpler than Dinner For Schmucks. The plot is nothing more than a excuse to get these characters together on screen. Normally that would be a recipe for disaster but this movie seems to pull it off somehow. Tim Conrad (Paul Rudd) is an investment analyst on his way up when he comes up with a an idea to land a hundred million dollar client. At this point he's invited to a secretive and exclusive dinner by the head of the company. There's only one catch he must bring a guest, a remarkable person (an idiot). Tim's girlfriend Julie (Stephanie Szostak) is disgusted by the idea. Tim at first declines until he meets the perfect guest Barry (Steve Carell) a taxidermist who recreates art and history using dead mice. When Barry shows up a day early for the dinner he complicates Tim's life in absurd and unexpected ways.

The plot is not much really so the movie relies on the comedic timing and chemistry between Paul Rudd and Steve Carell. They don't disappoint, Carell is allowed to improvise and pretty much play the buffoon role to the tilt. Rudd does an excellent job of reacting to all the outrageous things that Carell does.

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Movie Preview: Dinner For Schmucks - Should've Heard About This Movie Sooner

This is not much of a preview as the movie premeires tomorrow but here it goes anyway. There is a new comedy out this week starring Steve Carell  of The Office and Paul Rudd from I Love You Man and many other Judd Apatow directed comedy films. It will also star Zach Galifianakis from The Hangover. This one is not directed by Apatow but instead by Jay Roach who has directed numerous comedies including Meet The Parents and Austin Powers: International Man Of Mystery. Looks like it could be pretty funny, the plot synopsis goes like this:

Tim (Rudd) is a rising executive who "succeeds" in finding the perfect guest, IRS employee Barry (Carell), for his boss's monthly event, a so-called "dinner for idiots," which offers certain advantages to the exec who shows up with the biggest buffoon. Written by Anonymous

 

Jay Roach's take on writer/director Francis Veber's The Dinner Game (Le diner de cons) is an English language adaptation of the farce in which each week, Pierre and his friends organize what is called "the dinner game", where everyone brings the dumbest guy he can find as a guest - the dumbest guest wins. Written by woolfman

Okay so that doesn't tells us much about the film except that Steve Carell will be playing a buffoon again. Still looks pretty funny. Here's a look:

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