Dinner for Schmucks (2010)

When the first line of a comedy is “Poor Jacobson, they took his stapler”, it already has done something good in my book with this obvious reference to Office Space. Although this movie doesn’t have any similarities to it, the tone has been set. Paul Rudd is Tim, an analyst who is trying hard to move up the corporate ladder. During a meeting he gives a presentation which catches the eye of higher management and gets the chance to realise his dream.

There is a small precondition though. His boss regularly organizes dinners where everyone has to bring a guest along. These are not normal guests, but people with a “special gift”. It turns out that his boss expects everyone to invite the biggest losers they can find. The person who has the biggest one wins a prize. Although Tim really does not want to join this dinner, he doesn’t want to throw away his chance to play in the big league.

So he has to start looking for someone and by chance he runs into Barry (Steve Carrell), who stuffs mice as a hobby. He doesn’t just prepare them, he also dresses them and poses them in various situations. Because of some circumstances, the two spend quite a lot of time together. Because Barry isn’t well-spoken and believes everything Tim tells him, the two end up in some funny situations as Barry doesn’t handle everything as he should.

Steve Carrell plays his role as the ‘stupid’ guy in a great way and has a straight face while giving answers that aren’t really that intelligent. The combination with the reaction Rudd gives made me smile several times. Because the two need some information and they and up meeting Therman (Zach Galifianakis), who seems to have a special power. Galifianakis really doesn’t disappoint in this movie and despite his small role he manages to make use of his time and gives an excellent performance.

If you look at the opinions of other reviewers about this movie (for example Rotten Tomatoes) you will see that there are a lot of people who don’t like the movie. I guess this is normal as the movie has a type of humor that you either like or you don’t. Personally I loved it and really enjoyed watching it. I also would not mind watching it again. So if you’ve read other comedy reviews I’ve done and know you have about the same taste in comedy, then you should watch this movie and I recommend it.

Score:8