Dinner For Schmucks: A Laugh Riot

Rating: 3.5 out of 5*

Starring: Steve Carrell, Paul Rudd, Stephanie Szostak and  Zach Galifianakis

Director: Jay Roach

August 14, 2010 (Sampurn Wire): Tim (Paul Rudd) is an analyst at a private equity firm looking to move up the ladder after one of his co-workers is fired. After a great deal of hard work and brilliant strategy, he has found a potential new client that could mean big bucks, so the boss, Lance Fender (Bruce Greenwood), invites Tim to a special dinner where each invitee brings a different eccentric personality they can mock. The more outrageous the guest Tim brings in, the better his chances for a promotion, so he ends up bringing a guy he almost runs over with his car, Barry (Steve Carell) - a lonely IRS agent who enjoys creating art with stuffed and decorated dead mice. When Barry gets involved in his life, will Tim regret it? Will Tim become heartless enough to go through with the sadistic dinner? All these are answered in the rest part of the film.

The film is a Hollywood remake of the 1998 French farce, 'The Dinner Game' which was blatantly ripped off in Bollywood as 'Bheja Fry' (2007). Director Jay Roach (Austin Powers series and Meet The Parents) doesn't deviate from that template, but he still manages to make a better movie. Roach strategically builds toward the film's promised climax dinner party scene with a steady flow of physical and situational humor that goes over the top without alienating the audience. It is a very funny comedy filled with a wide range of humorous lines, pitfalls, and satirical flourishes. Roach and the writers take plenty of liberties in the adaptation, particularly in expanding the scope of the film but they still manage to hit an impressive number of the original movie's key points along the way. The most notable addition is the mean-spirited dinner itself, which provides the outrageous finale the original lacked.

Both Carell and Rudd have great chemistry together. Their easy rapport comes close to the dynamic antics of the incomparable Laurel and Hardy. Both show their proficiency for physical comedy. Carell adds a funny accent to a character he describes as a cross between Gandhi and one of the Three Stooges. The dream supporting cast of inventive comedy minds that are all brilliant in the art of improvisation includes Zach Galifianakis (The Hangover fame), Lucy Punch and Jemaine Clement.

Laughter has been known to be the best medicine for the human heart. So do yourself and your health a big favor by seeing this laugh riot before the spoilers rush in and give away all the punch lines.

--Sampurn Wire