Courtesy of Paramount PicturesMost comedies are filled with slapstick humor. “Dinner For Schmucks,” on the other hand, is full of slapstick people. Lucky for Tim, he finds Barry 8212; the biggest slapstick of them all.
Tim (Paul Rudd) is eager to be promoted out of the sixth floor of his office building. However, when he finally makes an impression on his boss Lance Fender (Bruce Greenwood), he discovers a dirty secret the bigwigs keep: once a month, they each invite an idiot to a group dinner to make fun of them. For Tim, that idiot is the dim-witted Barry (Steve Carell).
Barry is an IRS auditor who performs taxidermy and dresses up mice in his spare time. He’s also really excited to go to dinner with Tim 8212; so excited that he arrives at Tim’s apartment a day too early. This extra time with Tim forms the beginnings of a relationship filled with disaster and mishaps, much to Tim’s chagrin.
Often, the never-ending stream of chaos is frustrating, and although the shenanigans make up most of the plot, none of them are original. There are psycho ex-girlfriends, mix-ups and misinterpretations that could have easily been avoided; these usual elements quickly become boring, causing the humor in “Schmucks” to rely on the dialogue.
Fortunately, Carell delivers enough amusing lines to save the movie from ruin.
Helping Carell are co-stars Zach Galifianakis (“The Hangover”), who plays Barry’s mind-controlling boss Therman, and Jemaine Clement (half of the comedic duo Flight of the Conchords), who plays the animalistic and sexual artist Kieran. Galifianakis’ hijinks are worth a good knee slap while Clement takes a Russell Brand-type role and owns it, often stealing the show away from the main actors.
“Dinner For Schmucks” is based on the 1998 French film “The Dinner Game” and is the third cinematic team-up for Carell and Rudd. It was released on Friday nationwide.
Movie: Dinner for Schmucks
Rated: PG-13
Grade: C+
