Skilled Chefs

After hearing very mixed reviews on last year's film Dinner for Schmucks, I decided it was the sort of thing I'd wait to catch later on DVD, rather than paying full theater prices. Having now seen the movie, I can understand the mixed reviews.

The script is really just this side of terrible. The characters are weak, poorly developed caricatures. The circumstances are preposterous. The key premise is set up within the first five minutes, and the title leads you to think the entire movie will revolve around it... but then it doesn't actually deliver until the last twenty minutes. A lot of the humor is base and childish, when it's not maybe even a little insulting. On paper, this is a "how did this movie get made?" movie.

But the cast is absolutely incredible. Steve Carell has made a living of playing buffoons, and he brings his A game here. Paul Rudd is a perfect foil for him; he not only plays "straight man" to Carell's wilder schtick, but finds plenty of moments to be funny himself.

The supporting cast is bursting with talent. Some show up only for a scene or two, a handful of lines, and walk off convincing you the movie could have and should have been all about their character. Zach Galifianakis, Larry Wilmore, and Kristen Schaal (the last two contributors on The Daily Show) all made me laugh out loud. Bruce Greenwood and Ron Livingston were capable heavies. And a couple of women that I was not familiar with, Stephanie Szostak and Lucy Punch, also make an impression. The former is a likeable love interest, the latter an unhinged loon.

I swear this movie is not funny, not even a little, on paper, but this group of actors elevates it -- and by no small amount. They really shouldn't have to work this hard, but they do, extraordinarily, and managed to pull a stinker of a movie all the way up to a B- in my book. That shouldn't even be possible.

So I suppose I'm saying that if you're a fan of any actor I just mentioned, you should check out this movie if you haven't already. They're all at the top of their game here. If not, then there are certainly no other merits on which to recommend the movie, and you should avoid it.