MOVIE REVIEW: DINNER FOR SCHMUCKS

Director Jay Roach has a lot of big time comedies under his belt; he directed all three Austin Power films, the first two Meet the Parents and he produced both Borat and Bruno. Clearly he has had success with his comedies. So when I saw the trailer for Dinner for Schmucks, I thought there had to be more to it then just Paul Rudd taking Steve Carrell to dinner to make fun of him so he can get a promotion. Sadly, that was all there was to it.

In the film, Paul Rudd plays Tim, a guy eagerly trying to work his way up the corporate ladder. After a business pitch that gets him noticed by his superiors, they inform him that they like him, but want him to join them for a dinner before they make any final decisions. The only catch is, that he has to bring an idiot to dinner with him and whoever brings the biggest idiot wins. His girlfriend is against the dinner but after running into Barry who is a complete moron, he has to decide if his promotion is more important than his conscious.

To me, there just wasn't enough material to really make a movie out of. It was almost as if someone had the start of a good idea, but never really knew where to take the story, so they just stretched it out with a bunch of slapstick comedy and uncomfortable situations.

The characters in the film were completely unbelievable, three in particular. Yes, Carrell is playing the role of a moron, but no one is that stupid. He plays the exact same part as he does in The Office, a routine that is getting really old, really quick on that show. The second character is played Lucy Punch and is a crazy, obsessed ex of Paul Rudd. She was hands down the worst character of the film. Then the third character is an artist who Rudd's girlfriend curates for. Jemaine Clement nails the part, and I think he will turn out to be a big star, but the role is just to stupid for me in this film. You can next see him as the villain in the next Men In Black film. Zach Galifinakis from The Hangover has a cameo, but not even his character was a memorable one.

It had a few good laughs here and there. The dinner itself was pretty funny but only lasts a few minutes, and Carrell had some funny lines, but his character drug him down to much.

If slapstick is your thing, you will love the film. I'm not crazy about that style of comedy, but many in the audience was loving the film, it just wasn't for me. The lack of story and horribly written characters blew it for me. I give it a two out of ten.