Dinner for Schmucks

3 stars

Rating: PG-13
Stars: Steve Carell, Paul Rudd, Zach Galifianakis, Jemaine Clement, Stephanie Szostak

Dinner for Schmucks’ crude humour will have you laughing hysterically.

What’s the story?
Tim Conrad (Rudd) is an executive with the intent of moving up in the business world. He learns that his boss regularly hosts a dinner party in which all of the guests must find an “idiot” to bring. The person who brings the biggest schmuck then gains respect among their coworkers. Conrad is invited to the dinner, and although he thinks it is cruel the way they mock the eccentric schmucks, he hopes that a win may help him get the big promotion he’s been working towards. Soon afterwards, Tim meets Barry Speck (Carell), an IRS employee and hobby taxidermist. In Barry, Tim finds the perfect “schmuck” to bring to dinner, and an unforgettable night begins.

Why see it?
Schmucks is the American adaptation of a 1998 French comedy, Francis Veber’s The Dinner Game. This terrific remake will send you home with a stomach sore from laughing. There are moments when I felt genuinely sorry for the zany characters, and moments that made me cringe with embarrassment for them. However, the film’s quirkiness and wit are what make the movie likeable and relevant. Steve Carell’s diversity as an actor, and his chemistry with co-star Paul Rudd, make this eccentric comedy worth watching.

Problems?
Certain characters could use some fleshing out, and the movie sags at what would seem to be its most pivotal point (the actual dinner). Some of the humour was so absurd that it came off as quite cheap, and the mediocre script did not do the highly talented cast or the classic French film justice.

All in all:
This absurd comedy is sure to get some laughs.