Unfunny Dinner for Schmucks a Tasteless Meal
On the verge of a major promotion, good natured Barry (Paul Rudd) is invited by his boss Lance Fender (Bruce Greenwood) to a special sort of dinner at his home only his most valuable executives are asked to attend. The only stipulation is that he must bring one guest, a person with an incredible talent for the absurd and someone who will stand out from the crowd thanks to their larger than life personality. In short, he needs to find a true idiot, and if he does a good enough job at finding a total nincompoop then that long lusted after promotion will finally be his.
Steve Carell and Paul Rudd in Dinner for Schmucks © Paramount Pictures
Enter Tim (Steve Carell), a dimwitted IRS flunky with a flair for taxidermy and a skill for putting together vast creative playlands made out of dead mice dressed up like they were the offspring of Stuart Little. He’s an incredibly nice guy who wants to always do the right thing. Unfortunately, his best efforts often produce massive devastation, and while he’s the perfect foil to attend his boss’ dinner party the effect he’s having on Barry’s personal life – especially with his relationship with girlfriend Julie (Stephanie Szostak) – might not be worth the potential payoff in regards to his professional one.
To quote a favorite sci-fi friend I often return to from time to time when in need of a engaging pick me up, “Whoa.” And, in case you’re wondering, that’s not a good whoa. It’s not even a partially okay one filled with somewhat bewildered surprise that things didn’t quite work out as hopefully anticipated. No, it’s a whoa of stunning astonishment at just how horribly unfunny and truly terrible what I had just experienced ended up proving to be. It is a whoa of anger and frustration. A whoa bordering on shocking hysteria at how people so amazingly talented could come together and produce something of such colossal waste.
I’m talking about director Jay Roach’s (Meet the Parents, Austin Powers: International Man of Mystery) supremely unfunny comedy Dinner for Schmucks. A remake of French auteur Francis Veber’s 1998 international hit The Dinner Game (Le Dîner de Cons), this movie is almost shameful in its incompetence, the final product a painful remainder that even the most gifted comedians can find themselves struggling under the weight of an ill-conceived misfire.
In all fairness, as few and as far between as they are there are a handful of laughs to be had. But like a weak episode of “Saturday Night Live” getting to them is an almost painful slog. The whole movie is setup like a series of skits, all the actors putting on a bit of illusionary pantomime instead of trying to craft three dimensional characters an audience might connect to. Every now and then one of these skits comes to life and produces a giggle but that’s really about it, and as a whole the movie squanders its potential and becomes a massively boring, sometimes even off-putting, concoction not worth the celluloid its shot on.
I can’t say I’m in love with The Dinner Game as much as so many others I know seem to be, but the simple fact is at least Veber had the strength of his own convictions to see his scenario all the way through to the end. His film doesn’t skimp on the meanness inherent in its premise and essential to its core. He doesn’t so much go for the jugular as he instead slashes at with ferociously madcap frenzy, leaving bits of viscera and gore in his wake as he does so. But by that Veber’s eventual point is made all the more potent, the line between who are the idiots and who are not bracingly poignant.
Roach and his screenwriters just don’t have the guts to do the same. They’re constantly playing things safe, making sure audiences understand who the bad guys are and that what they're doing is very, very wrong. This makes the ultimate payoff an unmitigated disaster, and any chance Barry has to be redeemed by what has taken place is lost in the lame insignificance of so much of what has already transpired.
I’ve seen worse movies this year. When in Rome comes to mind, as does Cop Out and The Back-Up Plan. But Dinner for Schmucks might be the most irritating and disappointing of the lot. Not only does it waste a reasonably decent premise, it features actors with a proven track record of elevating even the weakest of material to a level it otherwise never would have obtained (Role Models for Judd, Date Night for Carell). Sadly, they just can’t do the same here, and as far as dinner parties go this is one shindig I almost wish I’d never gotten the invite to in the first place.
Film Rating: ê (out of 4)
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