Dinner for Schmucks

Even if Dinner for Schmucks is not the great comedy I was hoping for, it's still a good one. The movie puts Steve Carell (one of the brightest comic stars working today) and Paul Rudd (one of the more under appreciated comic stars) in a story that relies almost solely on their chemistry. Sometimes this is enough. But with an overstuffed running time of nearly two hours and no real plot to be found, director Jay Roach (Meet the Parents) often seems to be hoping his stars will carry the entire movie from beginning to end.

It's not enough, but Carell and Rudd certainly do try. And there are some big laughs in this movie, to be sure. They're just surrounded by long stretches where not much seems to be happening. I'm recommending this movie with reservations. There's a lot that works here, and a lot that doesn't. What does work is mostly credited to Carell, in a performance that seems like it was largely improvised on the spot. He's hilarious as Barry, a man who works for the IRS, but spends most of his time searching for dead mice on the street. He uses them for re-creations of famous paintings and works of arts, which he calls "mouseterpieces". Seeing the little stuffed mice set up in recreations of "The Last Supper" or "Whistler's Mother" is enough to get a laugh from the audience, but listen to the pride and intensity in which Barry talks about them. This is his life's work, and he talks about his art as if they were his children. Barry lives in his own world that is run by his own rules, and that's what makes him memorable.

When I say Barry lives in his own world, I mean it. He is completely oblivious to modern society, and what other people think of him. This simultaneously makes him more than a little pitiful, but also kind of admirable. It also seemingly makes him perfect for the strange situation that a man named Tim (Rudd) finds himself in at the beginning of the film. Tim is a rising employee at a big corporation, with dreams of moving on to the next floor and a bigger office. His boss (Bruce Greenwood) thinks he has initiative, and notices it. But, apparently there's a bizarre catch to moving up in this particular company. If Tim wants the promotion, he'll have to attend a private dinner function that the higher ups at the company hold every year. At the dinner, the corporate people invite guests who are total idiots. The whole purpose of the dinner is to laugh at the dolts at their own expense, and then at the end of the night, they give out a prize for the biggest fool of the evening.

Yes, it's cruel, and initially Tim wants nothing to do with it. But when he meets up with Barry after hitting him with his car (Barry was standing in the middle of the street, "rescuing" a dead mouse), he can't help it. Barry is the perfect "idiot". He's completely oblivious, he doesn't seem to have a single clue, and he always has this vacant grin on his face. Barry is the kind of guy who just kind of stands there and grins when he doesn't understand what's going on or what's being said to him. And Barry doesn't understand a lot of things. Tim wants the promotion, and invites Barry to the dinner. Barry just wants a friend, so he invites himself into Tim's life, and spends a majority of the film destroying it. There's a lot of misunderstandings, especially concerning Tim's girlfriend, a sweet woman named Julie (Stephanie Szostak). She does not like the idea of Tim attending the dinner, and when she meets Barry and sees he's going through with it, leaves him.

There's a lot more misunderstandings and situations where Barry's "help" winds up slowly driving Tim crazy, but I will not reveal them. Dinner For Schmucks is supposed to be a farce, where everything builds into total chaos, culminating to the climactic dinner scene, where the "idiots" assemble. The movie achieves this feeling in a lot of its scenes, but in others, it seems less sure of itself. This is a film that veers uncomfortably from inspired lunacy, to quiet thoughtfulness. It's unsure of what it wants to be. Is it a sharp look at those who look down on others? Is it a bizarre comedy that plays by its own rules and exists in its own reality? Is it a heartfelt buddy comedy? The movie tries to be all this, and succeeds at some. The satire elements are not sharp or vicious enough. The big laughs come from Carell's bizarre character, but even he's not enough to carry the entire movie himself.

What does work is the chemistry between Carell and Rudd. They supply an off beat odd couple, with Carell as the manic energy, and Rudd as the suffering straight man. Other scenes that work include a subplot concerning an S&M-obsessed woman who is stalking Tim (Lucy Punch), and the actual dinner itself. There is an inconsistency to the humor however. Scenes involving Zach Galifanakis as a co-worker of Barry's who thinks he can read minds fall flat, as does the stuff concerning Jemaine Clement as a bizarre artist. It's also inconsistent in its tone. While the early scenes depict a kind of dark, loopy comedy, it doesn't take long for the movie to develop a soft, squishy side, and go into somewhat more sentimental territory.

So, why am I giving Dinner For Schmucks a pass? My rule of thumb in reviewing a comedy is did I laugh, and how much did I laugh? I certainly did laugh watching the film, and I think the stuff that does work works well enough for it to be labeled a moderate success. I was expecting more, but was happy enough with what I got. With a little more effort, this could have been the great comedy I've been waiting all year for.

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