Dinner for Schmucks - Review

Dinner for Schmucks - ***

 There's a certain calm that comes with being a friendly dope. I'd say that "ignorance is bliss," but in this instance, it's more like "obliviousness allows optimism."

At least, that's what Dinner for Schmucks shows us. Based upon a French film called "The Dinner Game," Schmucks stars Paul Rudd as Tim, a mild-mannered low-level but ambitious employee of a financial company run by a boss (Bruce Greenwood) who ends up making the audience question whether the true idiot is the idiot or the guy who has to amuse himself by laughing at idiots. In a chance meeting, he impresses his boss with a business opportunity, and gets invited to the eponymous dinner--a "Dinner for Winners," where the word "winners" is used ironically.

Tim's not a bad guy, and is conflicted, especially when his girlfriend, Julie, tells him that it's wrong. But he goes along with it--oh, no! behind his girlfriend's back--, especially when what seems to be fate jumps right into his lap in the form of Barry, an oblivious IRS agent (believe me, the IRS bit is important for a number of jokes). Barry (Steve Carell) is perfect, and a sure-fire winner for this promotion, simply because his hobby is "rescuing" already-dead mice, taking them to a taxidermist, and using them as subjects in dioramas.

This is basically the set-up for a bunch of sometimes-awkward screwball situations involving Barry's obliviousness, such as when a crazy stalker ex-girlfriend of Tim's shows up, a rich Austrian looking to invest with Tim's firm, as well as the constant "it's not what it looks like"s with Julie.

I'm not going to reveal any of the fellow dinner guests, or any of the situations, except to say that while Paul Rudd and Steve Carell are the stars, a lot of scenes are stolen by Jemaine Clement (one half of the New Zealand folk duo Flight of the Conchords) as a pretentious-sounding but really weird artist, as well as Barry's IRS boss: an equally-eccentric Zach Galifianakis.

This movie depends on one thing: whether or not you feel that Barry is a pitiful man. The secret to this is Carell's acting. Carell plays him with such wide-eyed naivete that makes you wonder whether or not you can pity a man who truly feels no shame. After all, can you really threaten a man by withholding something which he already believes he has?