The available upper-level position will be his, with one catch: every month or so, they find a huge idiot and bring him or her to dinner with them so they can make fun of him… if Tim can find an impressive idiot to bring with him, the job is his. After making a strong pitch at a business meeting meeting, his boss (Bruce Greenwood) and his lackeys (Ron Livingston and Larry Wilmore) call him into their office. Tim (Paul Rudd) is a nice guy trying to get ahead in a heartless corporate world. Instead, it often grows too cartoony, it punishes its characters, and we’re left with a dinner that gives us several good bites but never fully satisfies. If this scenarios were moments in life we recognize, maybe we could tolerate the discomfort. Jay Roach directed Meet the Parents, one of the best awkward comedies of this generation, but here he has a scenario that is difficult to relate to or find the humanity in. He comes very close to saving the film down the stretch singlehandedly. Steve Carell does a marvelous job trying to keep the film alive, and Barry is a terrific comic creation.
By the time the film settles down again and finds its heart, it was too late-it had alienated me by causing anxiety instead of laughter in big scenes.
At times, I twisted in my chair and wanted to look away. Dinner For Schmucks sprints past awkward at about the 15 minute mark, eventually even leaving cringe-worthy in the dust. There’s a fine line between awkward and cringe-worthy.
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