SYNOPSIS: “Dinner for Schmucks” tells the story of Tim(Paul Rudd), a guy on the verge of having it all. The only thing standing between him and total career success is finding the perfect guest to bring to his boss’ annual Dinner for Extraordinary People, an event where the winner of the evening brings the most eccentric character as his guest. Enter Barry (Steve Carell), a guy with a passion for dressing mice up in tiny outfits to recreate great works of art. From Jay Roach, director of “Meet the Parents” and “Meet the Fockers” comes an unforgettable feast about two unlikely friends and one very memorable dinner.

REVIEW: So let’s see here, we have all three Austin Powers movies, Mystery, Alaska, Meet the Parents and Meet the Fockers to name a few of Director Jay Roach’s comedic masterpieces. His reputation precedes him, no doubt. And yet, when I first heard of this film and its title, I was immediately turned off. The previews didn’t help much either. Honestly, the movie seemed to be a complete waste of time. It looked stupid with a narrow storyline revolving around this particular dinner. Mr. Roach, I apologize. How could I have doubted you? Boy was I wrong. The first thing you need to know is to not be misled by the simplicity of the title of the movie. It is a lot more than what you’d expect. This movie is hilarious. If you have read my reviews from the past you know I have a cry meter. If a movie can make me cry from laughing so hard, that’s a point in its favor. Yes, disclaimer, I have a very open sense of humor which includes slapstick type comedy such as Austin Powers so bear that in mind. I cried at least twice and it was good, I needed that, it had been a while. I have seen hundreds upon hundreds of movies in my lifetime and I’m pretty sure I’ve never seen an intro like this one. So right from the get go, you’ll be starting to chuckle.

There are various forms of humor such as your classic one-liners, physical humor, and situational humor where the comedy is found in the situation itself. This movie has some of each but it exceeds the most with situational humor. This is mostly thanks to a truly unforgettable character, Barry, played by Steve Carell. Thank you, thank you, thank you Steve for going back to your roots, comically speaking. I still believe that one of Steve’s best performances ever was his role as Brick in Anchorman. So it was more than a treat for me to watch him match or maybe even exceed that performance with this one. This is Steve Carell at his finest and he steals the show. Barry is a not-too-sharp IRS employee, desperately in need of friends, and whose only hobby is taxidermy, and he is freakishly talented at it. It seems that Paul Rudd either gets a more “serious” role in a comedy or he is a lunatic . . . no grey area with Paul. Well in this one he is the more serious character, hard-working, corporate ladder climbing, trying hard to impress his girlfriend so she will marry him, Tim. As fate would have it, he runs into Barry and his life would never be the same. You just can’t go wrong with Paul Rudd in your cast. The rest of the cast was very nicely appointed. Kristen Schaal played a small role but strong. I just had to mention her because I think she’s adorable. There were two supporting cast members that really stood out for me, Jemaine Clement, and of course, Zach Galifianakis. Jemaine plays Kieran, an eccentric, narcissistic artist with a one track mind, and Zach plays Therman, Barry’s co-worker and mind controller. They both truly nailed their roles and added a lot of good laughs. Overall, and at first thought, I would call this a mix of The Cable Guy and I Love You Man. You won’t be disappointed.

People Review Dinner For Schmucks