Dinner For Schmucks

Year 3, Day 228 - 8/16/11 - Movie #949

BEFORE: Hmm...seems to be a theme developing this week, something about odd people. Another day or two and I'll be able to lock it down. Linking tonight provided by Julianne Moore, who was in both "Evolution" with Dan Aykroyd and the recent "Crazy, Stupid, Love." with Steve Carell. And we send a Birthday SHOUT-out (#56) to Mr. Carell tonight, last seen in an uncredited cameo in "Knocked Up".

THE PLOT: When he finds out that his work superiors host a dinner celebrating the idiocy of their guests, a rising executive befriends a man who would be the perfect guest.

AFTER: This has a bit of a foreign feel to it, being a semi-remake of a French film called "The Dinner Game", but also because it comes at you from a different sort of angle. I won't say unique, because I'd have to have seen every film to say that. Putting the spotlight on odd people, or people with odd hobbies, initially to make fun of them, but then to revel in their odd-ness.

The film also celebrates what drives humanity, and that's the competitive spirit. From the time of the first humans, it's been around - we imagine early man saying "I'm the best hunter" or "Why does he have a nicer cave than me?" And that's what drives the central character, Tim (Paul Rudd, last seen in "The Cider House Rules") to participate in the game - the promise of a better job, higher salary and a nicer office. That drives him to lie to his girlfriend and find himself a schmuck to bring to dinner. More accurately, an idiot - but I guess "Dinner For Idiots" didn't test well.

I certainly learned a long time ago not to cast aspersions, being a collector of comic books and Star Wars autographs, plus someone who watches movies in an obsessively organized manner. So everyone probably has something odd about them - some people even photograph all their meals in restaurants, but those people are freaks...

So Tim bumps into Barry (Steve Carell), whose hobby is taxidermy - specifically mice, arranged in cutesy costumes or scenes that resemble famous paintings (insert puns here). For good measure, he is a master of malaprops, getting nearly everything he says wrong in some fashion. Oh, and every situation he gets involved in tends to spiral out of control.

As in "Neighbors", we see just how much damage can be done to a man's life in just a two-day span spent with the wrong person. Barry shows up at the wrong time, and before you know it, Tim's relationship, job and financial history are all at risk. But Barry means well - and if you've been paying attention, you know that's one of the worst things I can say about people. "He means well" is code for "everything he does turns to crap."

Tim only has to string Barry along until the dinner, and then (somehow) everything will be better - he'll get the promotion, the big office, and then he'll get his girlfriend back. Note: In the real world, someone's life doesn't get worse and worse until a sudden reversal in the third act makes everything better again. A real downward spiral puts someone out on the street, living out of a shopping cart. But you knew that, right?

In fact, you can probably predict the outcome of the film if you try hard enough. There is a dinner, and it's filled with the rich executives making fun of the weirdos (truly, nothing has changed since junior high...) but hopefully our central character will realize that the losers are the real winners, and vice versa - and realize that he doesn't need to over-achieve to win a woman's heart, and that a true friend will be there for you, even if he knows he'll be made fun of. It's not as sappy as it sounds, which is a good thing.

Also starring Zach Galifianakis, Jemaine Clement, Bruce Greenwood (last seen in "Capote"), Stephanie Szostak, with cameos from Ron Livingston (last seen in "The Time Traveler's Wife"), David Walliams, Octavia Spencer, Lucy Punch and a host of Comedy Central regulars: Larry Wilmore (last seen in "I Love You, Man"), Nick Kroll (ditto), Kristen Schaal (last seen in "Valentine's Day"), Jeff Dunham, Rick Overton (last seen in "Mrs. Doubtfire").

RATING: 6 out of 10 tax audits