“Dinner for Schmucks” reteams the terrifically agile Steve Carell and the gifted straight man Paul Rudd, such a fine pair in the breakout hit “The 40-Year-Old Virgin.”
So it makes sense — even in a summer of comedic disappointments — to have one’s popcorn hopes up.
Alas, it’s not to be. Directed by Jay Roach, the movie has a slew of goofball moments that don’t add up to a consistently hilarious outing.
Instead, “Schmucks” falls into a growing category of comedies compelled to be unpleasantly nasty, then too-hastily nice. And you won’t have to spend much time at the fictional firm of Fender Financial to know which folks the title really refers to. Hint: It’s not the eclectic group of oddsters rounded up for a dinner meant to humiliate.
In fact, there’s little in this minor comedy that you won’t see coming.
It’s too bad. The movie was inspired by French writer-director Francis Veber’s more deftly handled farce “The Dinner Game” (1998), about a haughty intellectual who invites an “idiot” to a party for sport, only to get quite the comeuppance.
This version spins a morality tale about a fairly decent guy named Tim Conrad (Rudd) who gives into indecency as he tries to hoist himself up another rung of the corporate ladder by finding an “extraordinary person” to bring to a party.
Fender is the sort of shark-infested workplace where being called “chum” is not a comfort. Bruce Greenwood is toothy and sleek as Lance Fender, the lord of this corporate frat house. Also in sync with the bullying vibe are Caldwell (Ron Livingston) and Williams (Larry Wilmore), all too pleased to round up unusual suspects for a night of smug fun.
Tim has ideas and ambitions. Ideas get him in the door. The ambitions lead him astray. He’s also got lovely girlfriend Julie (Stephanie Szostak), who has hopes of curating museum shows and has yet to accept Tim’s marriage proposal.
A subplot deals with Julie’s artist, the polymorphously adventurous Kieran Vollard (Jemaine Clement). His ridiculous paintings underline with exclamation points the “self” in self-portrait.
The movie begins charmingly enough. It ends nearly as well. The Beatles’ lilting “Fool on the Hill” plays as staged scenes of stuffed mice go by, each more delicately wrought than the one before. Barry Speck (Carell) has a peculiar hobby. He makes these dioramas. Lunacy, it appears, is in the details.
Tim befriends Barry and invites him to a dinner, where he’ll unknowingly compete for biggest loser honors.
The karmic payback is swift. The comedy comes as Tim gets his just deserts long before the banquet. Barry upends his romantic and work life. Lucy Punch portrays a one-night stand invited into the mix.
Carell and Rudd did a fine jig of the sweet and the crude when they co-starred in “Virgin.” Their physical humor has its moments here. Barry likes to play possum. Rudd’s pantomime of back pain is Lucille Ball funny. And their chemistry isn’t forced. But Jay Roach directs them for broad gags.
A greater problem lies in the sense that writers David Guion and Michael Handelman couldn’t decide what kind of dolt to make Barry. At times he appears a savant, then a naif. Still other times, he’s boorishly clueless, especially about matters sexual.
They seem to struggle against making Barry’s boneheadedness a product of some biological glitch or educational disaster. Instead, he’s dumb — or accidently insightful — whichever suits the next laugh.
As is his habit, burly, bearded Zach Galifianakis (“The Hangover”) arrives to inject maximum absurdity into the proceedings. He plays Therman, Barry’s boss at the IRS, who has his minion convinced that he can control his mind.
Their final showdown makes for the movie’s grandest, silliest delight.
Film critic Lisa Kennedy: 303-954-1567 or lkennedy@denverpost.com. Also on blogs.denverpostcom/madmoviegoer
“DINNER FOR SCHMUCKS.”
aPG-13 for sequences of crude and sexual content, some partial nudity and language. 1 hour, 49 minutes. Directed by Jay Roach; written by David Guion and Michael Handelman; inspired by Francis Veber’s “Le dîner de cons”; photography by Jim Denault; starring Steve Carell, Paul Rudd, Jemaine Clement, Jeff Dunham, Stephanie Szostak, Bruce Greenwood, Ron Livingston. Opens today at area theaters.
