Dinner For Schmucks

Plot: When he finds out that his work superiors host a dinner celebrating the idiocy of their guests, a rising executive questions it when he's invited, just as he befriends a man who would be the perfect guest.

Trailer: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mOMngejmwKE

Clip: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qAcqFcRcHmM

Starring: Emmy winner Steve Carell ("The Office" & Despicable Me), Paul Rudd (Year One & I Love You Man), Zach Galifianakis (Operation: Endgame & Up in the Air), 7X Emmy nominee Jermaine Clement ("Flight of the Conchords" & Despicable Me), Lucy Punch ((Untitled) & Hot Fuzz), Indie Spirit winner Bruce Greenwood (I'm Not There & Cell 213), Ron Livingston (Going the Distance & The Time Traveler's Wife), Kristin Schaal ("FCU: Fact Checkers Unit" & Valentine's Day), Jeff Dunham ("Sonny with a Chance"), Octavia Spencer (Small Town Saturday Night & Seven Pounds), Patrick Fischler ("Lie to Me").

Written by: David Guion (The Ex) & Michael Handelman (The Ex) based on the film "Le Diner de Cons".

Directed by: 2X Emmy winner Jay Roach (Recount(TV))

Review:

The 21st century's What About Bob?. This movie, though not very original with some unrealistic situations, managed to make me laugh. Movies with the obnoxious friend that ruins the protagonist's life usually annoy me, but Carell's sympathetic performance made me like him. He gave the character some dimension. As with most comedies, my favorite characters are the side characters. There are some great ones here including Galifianakis as a mind-controlling IRS agent, psychic chicken lady, the crazy ex-girlfriend, Clement as the pretentious artist, and taxidermy mice. It was also nice to see the "girl-friend" role played by an up and coming actress who will actually benefit from such a role in a bigger film, rather than some big name actress who's just there for a paycheck. A funny and unexpectedly touching film.

Fun Facts: When this project was in early development, Sacha Baron Cohen was set to play the lead. After the credits there is a short scene that shows what happened to Fender after the movie. In one of the mice dioramas, a bottle of Dom Perignon is called "Veber". Francis Veber wrote and directed The Dinner Game (1998), the film which inspired this remake.

Rating:

Writing-B

Acting-A

Directing-B

Music-A

Cinematography-A

Editing-B

Hair-A

Makeup-A

Costumes-A

Art Direction-A

**1/2 Stars