DVD Release Date: January 4, 2011
Dinner for Schmucks is about a businessman named Tim (Paul Rudd) who is working his way up the corporate ladder. Unfortunately, in order to get the promotion of his dreams he needs to find an idiot to bring to a special dinner for schmucks. Initially Tim is skeptical with the idea, until of course he runs into Barry (Steve Carell), and decides to go ahead with the dinner with Barry as his guest of honor.
The film runs for about two hours and I have to say the middle hour or so is extremely painful to watch. The start is pretty funny, a hilarious appearance from Jemaine Clement gets things rolling. But, once Barry is introduced it goes from funny to annoying. For a good thirty minutes it seems joke after joke falls flat, and the movie feels awkward and forgets to be funny.
The director is Jay Roach, who directed the Austin Powers movies, as well as the Meet the Parents movies. This is, by far, my least favorite of any of his films. The slapstick is awful, and Paul Rudd is playing the same bland character he seems to be playing in every movie. When the film finally gets to the dinner at the end, even though it’s funny, I found myself so bored and irritated that I just didn’t care anymore.
The only saving grace of this film is the quality of the comedic actors. Steve Carell, Jemaine Clement and Zack Galifianakis are all great, but there’s nothing they can do to save this slow, tedious comedy.
Final Grade: D+
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