"Dinner for Schmucks" Film Review
A delicious comedy.
3 Stars
Blog exclusive!
What's on the menu? “Dinner for Schmucks” of course! The hilarious new comedy from Jay Roach, director of Austin Powers, serves up gut busting laughs and enough funny weirdness to fill up even the most starving patron. Starring Paul Rudd and Steve Carell "Dinner for Schmucks" is a remake of 1998s "Le dîner de cons" (The Dinner Game).
The premise of "Dinner for Schmucks" goes as follows: meet an idiot, bring him to dinner, make fun of him and get promoted. With a plot this simple “Dinner for Schmucks” isn't going to impress people looking for mature jokes rather it will please fans seeking physical, outrageous comedy.
Paul Rudd (Clueless) plays Tim Conrad an up and coming executive in a financial firm. Pressured to impress his girlfriend Julie, Tim makes a bold move in order to get a promotion. At a board meeting he gives an overview of a prospective client, a wealthy couple from Switzerland worth millions. Impressed, Tim's bosses invite him to dinner, which could possibly result in a promotion.
The initial meeting between Tim and Barry Speck, the idiot played by Carell, serves as the spark that ignites this picture. Tim and Barry’s relationship proves that opposites attract. Rudd is great at insulting Carell and the films best moments arise from this testiness. Eventually the acquaintanceship develops into a full-blown friendship, which sours the film. I don’t buy the friendship because it’s unrealistic.
Sub-plots are few and far between in “Schmucks”, but the scenes revolving around Barry and Kieran Vollard (Zach Galifianakis), Barry’s boss at the IRS are brilliant. Vollard’s ability to control Barry through “mind control” is definitely one of the highpoints in the film.
Sadly sappiness is a common occurrence in raunchy comedy films today. Tear jerking emotion doesn’t mix well with today’s brand of raunchy comedy. Perhaps the screenwriters who wrote “Dinner for Schmucks” thought that this dynamic would make the movie more appealing to women. But I don’t buy that theory and instead I think that the fuzzy, emotional scenes were easier to write. Instead of copping out the screenwriters should have created more controversial scenes that would have made the film more cohesive. But sadly this fluctuation in tone becomes old fast.
Another negative is the film’s pacing. The lead up to the climatic dinner scene takes to long despite its importance in the story. Some supporting characters are also not fully developed like Tim’s egotistical bosses who are best described as one-dimensional idiots.
“Dinner for Schmucks” isn’t just a hodgepodge of funny moments strung together, but the film doesn’t live up to its potential. Sadly not every film can be a masterpiece. However there is no shortage of silly moments in this film. And heck you may even want to stay for desert.
"Dinner for Schmucks" was directed by Jay Roach from a screenplay by David Guion and Michael Handelman adapted from Francis Veber's "The Dinner Game".
© 2011 Matthew R. Reis, All rights reserved.
3 Stars
Blog exclusive!
What's on the menu? “Dinner for Schmucks” of course! The hilarious new comedy from Jay Roach, director of Austin Powers, serves up gut busting laughs and enough funny weirdness to fill up even the most starving patron. Starring Paul Rudd and Steve Carell "Dinner for Schmucks" is a remake of 1998s "Le dîner de cons" (The Dinner Game).
The premise of "Dinner for Schmucks" goes as follows: meet an idiot, bring him to dinner, make fun of him and get promoted. With a plot this simple “Dinner for Schmucks” isn't going to impress people looking for mature jokes rather it will please fans seeking physical, outrageous comedy.
Paul Rudd (Clueless) plays Tim Conrad an up and coming executive in a financial firm. Pressured to impress his girlfriend Julie, Tim makes a bold move in order to get a promotion. At a board meeting he gives an overview of a prospective client, a wealthy couple from Switzerland worth millions. Impressed, Tim's bosses invite him to dinner, which could possibly result in a promotion.
The initial meeting between Tim and Barry Speck, the idiot played by Carell, serves as the spark that ignites this picture. Tim and Barry’s relationship proves that opposites attract. Rudd is great at insulting Carell and the films best moments arise from this testiness. Eventually the acquaintanceship develops into a full-blown friendship, which sours the film. I don’t buy the friendship because it’s unrealistic.
Sub-plots are few and far between in “Schmucks”, but the scenes revolving around Barry and Kieran Vollard (Zach Galifianakis), Barry’s boss at the IRS are brilliant. Vollard’s ability to control Barry through “mind control” is definitely one of the highpoints in the film.
Sadly sappiness is a common occurrence in raunchy comedy films today. Tear jerking emotion doesn’t mix well with today’s brand of raunchy comedy. Perhaps the screenwriters who wrote “Dinner for Schmucks” thought that this dynamic would make the movie more appealing to women. But I don’t buy that theory and instead I think that the fuzzy, emotional scenes were easier to write. Instead of copping out the screenwriters should have created more controversial scenes that would have made the film more cohesive. But sadly this fluctuation in tone becomes old fast.
Another negative is the film’s pacing. The lead up to the climatic dinner scene takes to long despite its importance in the story. Some supporting characters are also not fully developed like Tim’s egotistical bosses who are best described as one-dimensional idiots.
“Dinner for Schmucks” isn’t just a hodgepodge of funny moments strung together, but the film doesn’t live up to its potential. Sadly not every film can be a masterpiece. However there is no shortage of silly moments in this film. And heck you may even want to stay for desert.
"Dinner for Schmucks" was directed by Jay Roach from a screenplay by David Guion and Michael Handelman adapted from Francis Veber's "The Dinner Game".
As always thanks for reading!
© 2011 Matthew R. Reis, All rights reserved.
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