Dinner For Schmucks

Dinner For Schmucks
2010
Directed By: Jay Roach
Starring: Paul Rudd, Steve Carell

You know, entering a movie theater for a movie on your birthday is a fun feeling. The fact that I was going to see this movie was not that fun of a feeling. For the five days leading up to my viewing, I had heard nothing but terrible things (except from my brother) about this awkward comedy. My friends at work had all seen it over the weekend, and they all said it was worse than anything starring Will Ferrell. I was told the humor was flat and the story was weak.

I could say that for the first 45 minutes of the movie, I agreed. I didn't care for the characters, which is tough to do with Paul Rudd as the star of a film. Everyone knows that every guy in this world has a small man-crush on Paul Rudd. But that's beside the point. With comedic geniuses leading the pack, I was a little disappointed with the reviews I had heard. About half way through the movie, it began to pick up.

Now, not to ruin anything, but for those who have seen it, I believe the movie turned around during the brunch scene. The characters finally seemed to be serving a purpose and the comedy seemed to come a lot more easily. The jokes seemed very forced during the first half of the movie, but the second half seemed to come together a bit more.

I'm not giving this movie rave reviews, I'm just saying that I was pleasantly surprised with the end result after hearing such dreadful things. Steve Carell has never come off as very funny to me before. I always thought he was dull and brainless, but it seems he found his niche playing an idiot. I don't watch the Office, so I don't know about that character, but in this movie, he seemed to fit the part. And of course Paul Rudd is the guy vying for a huge promotion at work. And of course this interferes with the relationship between Rudd and his girlfriend.

The romantic cliches in these movies need to change. One thing that really bothers me about movies like this is that no matter what, the romantic story line never really matters. The movie went for the heart factor but fell short. The movie could have been a 20 minute after school special about making friends with people who are different than you. But where would be the fun in that? There wasn't that much fun in this either though.

Stars (out of 10): 5 1/2