Plot: Tim Conrad (Paul Rudd) is a middle management business executive trying to make a name for himself and advance up the corporate ladder. When a daring proposal catches the eye of his superiors, Tim is informed of a special dinner held once a month at his boss Lance's (Bruce Greenwood) house. Each of the guests brings an idiot to the dinner to make fun of. When Tim literally runs into half-wit IRS agent Barry Speck (Steve Carrell) he thinks he's found a winner.
Review: Dinner for Schmucks is without question one of the most painfully unfunny movies I've ever seen and hands down the worst comedy of 2010. It is literally shocking how a movie that contains comedic geniuses like Steve Carrell, Paul Rudd, Zach Galifianakis, and Ron Livingston is this unfunny.
What's even sadder is that director Jay Roach helmed this turdburger. This is the guy who brought us the Austin Powers films and the Emmy Award winning HBO movie Recount. You'd think this guy would know something about comedy. Although come to think of it he did do Meet the Parents and Meet the Fockers so maybe he is starting to lose his touch.
In any case Roach fails miserably at Dinner for Schmucks. The pacing is God-awful, filled with screwball non-sensical scenes such as one where Tim and Barry brake into an artist's apartment. Tim suspects that his girlfriend Julie (Stephanie Szostak) may be cheating on him. Another ridiculous moment involves a business meeting with Tim, a Swiss client, and Tim's crazy ex-girlfriend Darla. Obvious jokes about cheese, chocolate, and watches ensue that are just painful to watch. Rather than create laughs, these and other ridiculous scenes highlight the fact that it takes almost 90 minutes to get to the actual dinner. (To put this in perspective, about 30 minutes in I was ready to turn off the movie and watch Arthur 2: On the Rocks--twice.) Then the audience is forced to endure a blind guy who thinks he can fence, a woman who talks to dead animals, a guy with a wacky beard, and an idiot ventriloquist who thinks his dummy is his wife. When you combine all of these elements you know what you get? That's right! Zero laughs. Even Zach Galifinakis as the "mind controlling" Therman Murch cannot save the dinner or the film.
Rudd and Carrell meanwhile have the chemistry of oil and vinegar. The Odd Couple these two are not. While Rudd plays the straight laced uptight yuppie (and don't get me wrong it usually works) Carrell plays a dim-witted IRS agent who for some reason likes to creates elaborate dioramas out of dead mice. The two just never seemed to click the way they did in Anchorman or The 40 Year Old Virgin. Their relationship is just illogical. After two days of Barry messing up Tim's life somehow they become best friends? No!
To be fair neither had much to work with. David Guion and Michael Handelman's script might as well have been written with crayons on construction paper. Both of these two had to have been eating paste to write a screenplay this bad. I'm surprised they didn't write in a part where Rob Schneider pops in and says, "You can do it!" It would have been the frosting on this crap-cake of a movie.
I hate to say that actors will take movies just for money, but it seems like this film was just a quick cash grab for Steve Carrell. There was no subtlety or nuance to Barry. The fact that he makes dioramas out of dead mice isn't endearing it's repulsive. Carrell's blond hair is as ridiculous and predictable as all the high jinks he gets up to in the movie. I'm thinking the amount of effort that went into preparing for this role was right on par with watching an episode of WaWaWubbzy. And I'm sorry but it makes absolutely no sense that a person as dumb as Barry could work for the IRS. I have a friend who works for the IRS and he is far from stupid.
At the end of the film I was surprised to find that Dinner for Schmucks was a remake of the 1998 French film Le Diner de Cons (Dinner for Dolts). I would rather watch that film in French than see Dinner for Schmucks ever again. I'm certain watching it in French would be exponentially funnier than the two hours I wasted watching Schmucks.
And I don't even speak French.
My rating: 1/10
@Corrye As the person you know who works for the IRS, I can tell you with all certainty that there are a lot of really dumb people who work for the IRS. With 110,000 employees, you can only begin to imagine how many there are.
ReplyDeleteBTW, great review. I wouldn't see this movie if you paid me.