I Saw A Film Today…Dinner For Schmucks

Steve Carell is hilarious. It is almost impossible to think of the American ‘The Office’ without picturing Michael Scott’s goofy, wide grin while saying “That’s what she said!” This is why it was such sad news to hear that Carell was leaving at the end of the seventh season of the popular NBC comedy. Will there be any way to replace him? Can the great series even go on without his presence? I believe so, with such talent as John Krasinski, Jenna Fischer, and Rainn Wilson there should be enough gas in the tank to make it for a couple of season. But enough about ‘The Office’, let’s talk about Carell’s latest film, Dinner for Schmucks.

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Tim Conrad (Paul Rudd) is a “sixth floor” executive at a company whose only dream is moving up to a corner office on the magical one floor up. After giving an impressive presentation, Tim is invited by his boss (Bruce Greenwood) to a special dinner. Colleagues then explain why the dinner is so special: Tim is required to bring someone along who has a strange quirk, i.e. an weirdo. Tim, blinded by ambition, does not see the unethical side of this and agrees to do it. When his girlfriend Julie (Stephanie Szostak) pleads with Tim not to go through with it, he just shrugs it off.

Dharma is a cruel mistress and she comes in the form of Barry Speck (Steve Carell), an ignorant, almost childlike man who fills much of his time making artwork with dead mice. Tim hits Barry with his Porsche and realizes that he is the perfect specimen for the dinner. But Tim also learns that Barry is a nuisance, which leads to a freaky female stalker finding out where Tim lives, almost blowing a big deal with an important Swiss couple, and possibly making Julie run into the arms of an eccentric artist (Jermaine Clement).

There is no doubt that Dinner For Schmucks is funny. Who would expect anything less from the guy who brought us Austin Powers and Meet the Parents? The anchor in the whole film is Steve Carell’s performance as Barry. Not to mention the strong performance of Paul Rudd and new comer Stephanie Szostak. And who could forget the cheeky appearance of Ron Livingston, the absurdness of Zach Galifanakis, and the always funny Jermaine Clement.

But these performance are not enough to save this movie. For one thing the plot line is just a weak set of events that are all meant to set up the big dinner at the end, which goes from comedy to almost Three Stooges slapstick. One of the other main issues with this film is that I did not really care what happened to Paul Rudd’s character even though I was supposed to. Why should I have any sympathy for someone with a beautiful girlfriend, great looking apartment, and who drives a Porsche Boxster? I would understand if it was an everyday man who is trying to catch a break but all this is a greedy guy who tries to get ahead by humiliating some poor guy.

Another thing that really disturbed me was how unethical it is. There is a scene at the end where Paul Rudd explains the whole premise of the dinner to Steve Carell’s Barry, basically telling him that he is an idiot, and then goes on to convince Barry has the power of “Brain control” so that he can win the trophy and get the promotion.  Is comedy now just gathering a group of people with deep seeded psychological disorders together and laughing at their unfortunate circumstances?

I understand that this film will be for some people and it will not be for others. I fall into the latter category. I just feel there are other better comedies out there right now to fill your time with other than Dinner for Schmucks.

VERDICT: SKIP IT!

*Special thanks to Josh M. and Becky H. for sharing this cinematic adventure with me.

What did you think of Dinner for Schmucks? Would you be a schmuck for seeing it or would you be a smart lad or lass? Leave your comments and opinions below.

I Saw A Film Today…Despicable Me

Animated films are only just now getting the respect they deserve. Animated films were at one time for children to enjoy and parents to suffer through. But now they have that special ingredient that gives a little bit of spice for everyone. Take the film that this review is over, Despicable Me. In it the main character goes to a bank called The bank of Evil, which has a sign underneath it proclaiming “Formerly Lehman Brothers”. No child will get this joke but they will not mind, they are too focused on the little yellow pill shaped minions. As for the adult, they will get it and have a little chuckle and enjoy the movie as much as the accompanying child.

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Gru (Steve Carell) is a supervillian who acts are not actually all that super. He finds accomplishment in stealing things such as the Las Vegas Eiffel Tower and the Time Square Megatron. But Gru has a bigger plan on his mind as of late: stealing the moon. In order to do this Gru must get a loan from the president of the Bank of Evil, Mr. Perkins (Will Arnett). But Gru faces competition in the form of an orange warm-up suit wearing young supervillian named Vector (Jason Segel), who recently stole the Giant Pyramid of Giza.

In order for Gru to get his loan from  the bank, he must steal an important devise that is important to his mission from Vector: a shrink ray. Thinking that three orphan girls can help him in obtaining the devise, Gru adopts them. After obtaining the shrink ray Gru begins working on his plan, ignoring the three girls. But Gru begins to become more and more involved with the girls and comes to a cross roads: Which is more important, his plans or the girls.

Despicable Me was a really enjoyable film. The plot line may have been weak and predictable but it makes up for this with creativity. And who could say no to the little minions? A couple of people who I have talked to would have of loved for the little guys to have a  bigger presence in the film. Not to mention the sugary sweet Agnes (Elsie Fisher), who cannot help but melt your heart with her love of unicorns and saying such things as “it’s so fluffy I’m Gonna die!”

There is also some great voice work here. The way Steve Carell delivers Gru’s lines is a combination of an evil German’s broken english and a smooth talking Russian gangster. This all equals out to comedy gold. Not to mention the supporting cast and cameo appearances such as Jason Segel, Kristen Wiig, Jack McBrayer, Ken Jeong, Danny McBride, and Russell Brand as Dr. Nefario.

By no means is Despicable Me the best animated film of this year. I doubt that in the future we will see Despicable Me: Stealing the Earth’s Core. But you will have a fun time watching this film with your family…I mean, who couldn’t? It’s just…so…FLUFFY!!

VERDICT: RENT IT! (In 2-D)

So have you seen Despicable Me? What did you think of Gru and his little Minions? Leave your comments and opinions below.