Movie Review: "Dinner for Schmucks"

Seen on: July 30, 2010

The players: Director: Jay Roach, Writers: David Guion, Michael Handelman, Cast: Steve Carell, Paul Rudd, Zach Galifianakis, Lucy Punch

Facts of interest: Roach also helmed "Meet the Parents."

The plot: An executive invites a weird IRS employee to a dinner designed to make fun of idiot guests.

Our thoughts: I had high hopes for Jay Roach’s comedy remake “Dinner for Schmucks,” but unfortunately, I left the theater disappointed. I know it was a mistake to walk into this with very high expectations, but with this great of a cast and splendid source material, you would think they’d come up with something funnier and more refreshing. Alas, this one only goes down as a so-so remake.

“Schmucks” is inspired by Francis Veber’s French hit movie “Le Diner de Cons,” and it stars Paul Rudd as Tim, a determined executive who’s trying anything to score that one big promotion. One way to impress his boss is to attend a secret dinner party designed to invite complete morons and make fun of them the entire night, and although Tim’s girlfriend Julie hates the idea of it, he decides to give it a shot.

Easily enough, everything seems to fall into place when Tim finds the ideal candidate to invite along: Barry (Steve Carell), an IRS employee who has a passion for stuffing dead mice and dressing them up for all sorts of weird dioramas. What Tim fails to realize though is that Barry will quickly cause his life to completely spin out of control. And is Barry really the idiot Paul thinks he is?

If you haven’t seen the original flick, you see this is quite a funny concept and definitely a great opportunity to generate a movie with abundant laughs and hilariously awkward moments. Not so fast! Roach’s “Schmucks” does boast a couple of good laughs and a pair of superb performances, but in the end, the film still falls flat. The plot just goes on for too long and many jokes don’t really work that well.

In a way, I simply expected more from the characters. Carell and Rudd are great actors who can be incredibly funny when given awesome material to work with, but the script for “Schmucks” failed to give them the opportunity to shine. Tim and Barry are two funny guys, yes, but they could be so much funnier. In fact, everything we see and hear in this movie could’ve been boosted to a higher level.

Another complaint I have is the film’s running time. It comes in just under two hours, and sometimes, the plot just drags without really moving forward. The story occasionally stalls because of many attempts to introduce unnecessary funny moments that are in fact not that hilarious. I even sometimes caught myself putting on forced smiles because I simply wanted to be entertained more.

That said, Carell masters his character Barry quite well, and he pulls in the film’s laughs. Barry is obviously not as unique than Michael Scott, but Carell proves he can be a funny dude in different projects. His onscreen chemistry with Rudd is ultimately what saves the entire movie, and that’s a big plus. Without those two, it would be too easy to see all the annoying flaws in the mediocre screenplay.

“Schumcks” is a predictable movie that tries to act as a farce but never really quite gets there. It also includes a bunch of slapstick, and that actually works better. The message is a good-hearted one, and truth be told, it’s pretty easy to figure out where it’s going at all times. However, I do agree that the characters and their predicaments cause the story to move along smoothly enough most of the time.

The strong supporting cast helps “Schmucks” as well, as does Jay Roach’s clean direction and the overall sophisticated look of the film. Zach Galifianakis brings along some good times as Barry’s boss, and Lucy Punch is surprisingly funny as a rough chick stalking Tim. Jemaine Clement and Stephanie Szostak round out the cast.

Freaky quote: "Everything happens for a reason." - Paul Rudd, man of advice

The final word: “Dinner for Schmucks” will easily find an audience, and many cinemagoers will get their dose of laughs from this comedy without major troubles. I really wanted to love it as well, but I was a bit disappointed by the quality of the humor. This is certainly not a bad film, but it’s not something I would revisit. But yeah, Rudd and Carell are great, that’s for sure…

Article by Franck Tabouring