Movie Review: Dinner For Schmucks

Synopsis: When he finds out that his work superiors host a dinner celebrating the idiocy of their guests, a rising executive (Paul Rudd) questions it when he's invited, just as he befriends a man (Steve Carell) who would be the perfect guest.

Much more awkward than funny, I got a few laughs out of this but not near as many as I'd hoped for based on the premise and the fantastic cast of Rudd, Carell and Zach Galifianakis. The 3 of them alone should have had my side hurting, but Zack's screen time is very limited. Another character, Kieran, brought some fresh goofiness as well so that made up for the lack of Zack (hey, a rhyme!).

Rudd and Carell are great together but the script just didn't give them a lot. The whole dinner thing was really just a short bit at the end of the movie, after a whole lot of awkwardness. It's one of those films where it got so uncomfortable a few times for Rudd and his situtation during a restaurant scene I just felt too sorry for him to really get a laugh from it.

And the "schmucks" are great, but like I said it's just a short bit at the end of the movie so you never get much of a chance to get into that. It's mostly Carell ruining Rudd's life. Carell's character is great but he's also such an idiot it's hard to feel very sorry for him, most of his problems he brings on himself by being an ass.

Still though, great cast and some funny bits so it's worth a watch but it's a tad bit disappointing I thought. I absolutely loved the mice dioramas though. And I would be remiss if I didn't mention Stephanie Szostak is stunning... so there's that.

5.5/10