SYNOPSIS:
There's only one thing keeping aspiring executive Tim (Paul Rudd) from corporate success. He must find the perfect guest to bring to his boss's monthly dinner party, where the winner of the evening is the one who arrives with the biggest buffoon. Luckily, Tim meets Barry (Steve Carell), a guy who re-creates famous works of art with stuffed mice. When the duo show up to dine, the lunacy kicks into high gear. It's a hilarious feast about two unlikely friends and one outrageous dinner.
MOVIE REVIEW:
It’s a wonder how much leeway we are willing to give to an evidently average movie just because of how much we like its stars. This Jay Roach directed production is one such case. We could tell from the onset that it probably won’t be a very good movie, but we are delighted to see one of our favourite underrated stars Paul Rudd headlining the screwball comedy. Steve Carell? He’s alright, but we are rooting for Rudd to make this movie an enjoyable one.
Inspired by the French film The Dinner of Cretins, this American adaptation has the protagonist working in a corporate environment, aspiring to be a successful executive. When he finds out that his superiors are holding a dinner to celebrate the idiocy of the guests, he wonders whether it is right to bring along an extraordinarily silly friend whom he chances upon. To be fair, we think that this buffoon has a rather interesting talent – he taxidermies mice and arranges them into elaborate dioramas.
The 114 minute movie starts off with a lovely montage of these mice being positioned into intricate and detailed backgrounds. You would imagine someone to own these prized collections and displaying them in an exhibition hall, only to have visitors going “wow” and “aww”. But if you think again about the man who does nothing else in his life except being very involved this strange hobby, it does get a little warped. Anyway, with this premise set up, the movie is ready to go.
However, the said dinner event only takes place during the last quarter or so. For a large part, circumstances are set up to show how silly the strange man is. Situation after situation, you see him trying to make things right, only to culminate in a stupid mess. There is the predictable part about the buffoon looking for true friendship and only to be hurt by the executive’s selfish actions. The pacing of jokes feels a little offbeat and uneven sometimes, but thanks to the stars’ immense likeability, we continued watching to find out what’s in store.
Oh, and if you haven’t realised already, Carell plays the buffoon and Rudd plays the executive who wishes to make use of the buffoon. Somewhere in the mix is an eccentric artist who creates revolting art pieces, a love interest, a man who has mind control over others (the wonderful Zach Galifinakis), and an obsessive stalker. These characters manage to amuse slightly, and does not come off as irritating.
When the dinner event finally takes place, we are introduced to a myriad of even weirder people, including a blind fencer, a woman who talks to dead pets, a man who has a puppet wife, a vulture owner and a man who keeps a bushy beard. And you thought someone who taxidermies mice was strange? As expected, things go awry and comedy ensues, before the movie wraps up with a happy ending. Not a particularly spectacular comedy, but we can guarantee that it’s an enjoyable one.
SPECIAL FEATURES :
This Code 3 DVD contains a 15 minute The Biggest Schumucks in the World has the stars talking about how much they enjoyed each other’s company during the production. The eight minute Schmuck Up will have you chuckling at the montage of hilarious outtakes. Six Deleted Scenes lasting nine minutes round up the platter.
AUDIO/VISUAL:
The visual transfer of the movie is pristine and clear. It is presented in either English of Thai Dolby Digital 5.1.
MOVIE RATING :
DVD
RATING :
Review
by John Li
Posted
on 27 February 2011 |
