Inception's impressive run – it just scored a $27.5m number one hold in its third weekend – is taxing the powers of headline writers who have already exhausted their supply of dream references. The film's rip-roaring start is the stuff of fantasy, however: the $193.3m running total for a challenging, original story deserves accolades and provides a heartening reminder that audiences will reward demanding, well-executed films.
Dinner for Schmucks is neither of these. Comedies don't necessarily need to be demanding, but they should be well executed and, correct me if I'm wrong, but funny also counts for something. However this sorry DreamWorks production, which opened in second place through Paramount on $23.3m and is inspired by Francis Veber's 1998 French comedy Le Diner de Cons, begs the question – what has happened to mainstream US comedy?
Hollywood churns out stuff like Dinner for Schmucks these days: soulless, slickly produced confection that raises no more than the odd chuckle and is the cinematic equivalent of elevator music. Too many movies come along, weighed down with dumb characters and antics that quickly wear thin. Get him to the Greek, Pineapple Express, The Love Guru, Miss March … the list goes on. The US studios have forgotten how to make entertaining movies predicated on clever premises with memorable characters, lines and set pieces.
The sad thing is Dinner for Schmucks stars two of the more talented contemporary US comedians in Steve Carell and Paul Rudd, but they're rudderless (pardon the pun) without a capable director. And this part is even sadder: Dinner for Schumcks was directed by Jay Roach, who seemed to be the heir apparent to Blake Edwards after Meet The Parents and the Austin Powers franchise. I hope this is a rare miss for Roach, otherwise it looks like he's joined Judd Apatow on a downward trajectory.
Of course there have been notable exceptions like Superbad, Napoleon Dynamite, Anchorman, Borat, The Hangover, Sideways, Shaun of the Dead, Humpday and Cyrus, some of which owe their provenance to independent sources outside the studio system, but the list is short.
The irony is Dinner for Schmucks may be usurped next weekend by a new comedy from Sony that also rides into town on lukewarm buzz. The Other Guys pairs Will Ferrell with Mark Wahlberg, with Eva Mendes and Steve Coogan in support. Ferrell is wonderful but needs to bounce back from last year's Land of the Lost; Wahlberg is fairly new to comedy; Mendes is inexperienced in comedy but clearly willing and able, and Coogan is yet to find his feet in the US market. Comedy is meant to be funny, but these days Hollywood's output just makes you want to cry.
North American top 10, 30 July- 1 August 2010
1. Inception (Warner Bros) WBPI $27.5m. Total: $193.3m
2. Dinner for Schmucks, $23.3m
3. Salt, $19.3m. Total: $70.8m
4. Despicable Me, $15.5m. Total: $190.3m
5. Cats & Dogs: The Revenge of Kitty Galore, $12.5m
6. Charlie St Cloud, $12.1m
7. Toy Story 3, $5m Total: $389.7m
8. Grown Ups $4.5m. Total: $150.1m
9. The Sorcerer's Apprentice, $4.3m. Total: $51.9m
10. The Twilight Saga: Eclipse, $3.9m. Total: $288.2m
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