‘Schmucks’ is chock full of screwball characters masquerading as normal and an oddly unhealthy love of dead mice.  Still it has to be one of the funniest films I’ve seen this summer.  Steve Carell, Paul Rudd and the rest of the cast deliver!  I needed a good laugh and this film delivered in a gut-busting way.  Be prepared for some unique ranglings amongst a severely ‘off’ group of individuals and that’s just the supposed normal ones.

‘Schmucks’ follows Tim (Paul Rudd – The Shape Of Things), a young executive looking to move up in his big corporate stock brokerage (actually it’s nothing like a stock brokerage).  When the opportunity to rise presents itself, Tim seizes it with a pitch to the big boss on how to snag a new client.  With his move to a higher floor, supposedly better co-workers, and a pat life practically assured, Tim finds out that the catalyst for his eventual promotion is tied to his ability to produce the best guest at a dinner for idiots hosted by the company President.  Whoever can bring the strangest, most perverse friend wins the competition. Through happenstance (witness the dangers of texting and driving), Tim meets Barry (Steve Carell – Bruce Almighty), a recently divorced social pariah who spends his days and nights recovering dead mice and turning them into magnificent frozen works of art.  Barry becomes human fly paper to Tim who wants nothing more than to use him as a means to get his promotion.   A human wrecking ball of spills and calamities, Barry proceeds to reunite Tim with a one-night stand he had years ago with a psychotic  pain loving freak, wreck the delicate relationship Tim has with his current girlfriend, demolish his house and all of this happens before the dinner even takes place.  The dinner itself is a cavalcade of oddities and personalities (none of which I will spoil for you here), that culminates in Tim’s realization of true friendship, what you really want out of life, and just how detailed you can get when creating masterpieces of art…using dead mice.

I got the feeling the cast had a great deal of fun making this film.  Their cohesive nature and sharp timing made for some really great laughs.  As you’d expect, Zach Galifianakis (The Hangover) is in great form.  He seems to be relegated to playing oddball characters but in ‘Schmucks’ it fits with the script and he shines as Therman, the mind controlling IRS agent.  Jemaine Clement (TV’s Flight Of The Conchords) is his HBO character ‘Jemaine’ personified into the form of an artistic neophyte.  With his self indulgent needs of creativity, and self-centered art, it almost seemed a graduation of the character he plays so well in the HBO series.  Another ‘Conchords’ alum, Kristen Schaal (Norbit)  joins the cast as Susana, Tim’s able bodied and pushy assistant.

The film is far from superb, and at times eerie, witness the Swedish couple in the promo’s icy blue eyes.  They almost seemed like ‘pod’ people, and I questioned if anyone from Sweden has eyes of such distinction (I Google’d it…and they do).  Still, it couldn’t ruin a steady stream of laughter throughout the film.  Director Jay Roach (Meet The Parents) notches another great comedy, and box office willing a follow up which will regale us with even more idiot dinners filled with characters just as entertaining and zany.

Rating: ★★★★☆ 

Atomic Popcorn is proud to present to you, the Baltimorons, a sneak peak at Paramount’s upcoming comedy, DINNER FOR SCHMUCKS, starring Paul Rudd and Steve Carell. We are having a screening on Thursday, July 29th all lined up for and ready to make you pee your pants.

If you have been living under a rock lately and have been avoiding the internet or television like the plague, well you deserve to miss out on this comedy. Make sure you get tickets to this one, this is sure to make your side hurt.

Synopsis:

The comedy, “Dinner for Schmucks,” tells the story of Tim (Paul Rudd), an up-and-coming executive who has just received his first invitation to the “dinner for idiots” – a monthly event hosted by his boss, which promises bragging rights (and maybe more) to the exec who shows up with the biggest buffoon. Tim’s girlfriend, Julie (Stephanie Szostak), finds it distasteful and Tim agrees to skip the dinner, until he bumps into Barry (Steve Carell) an IRS employee who devotes his spare time to building elaborate taxidermy mouse dioramas – and quickly realizes he’s struck idiot gold.  Tim can’t resist, and invites Barry, whose blundering good intentions soon send Tim’s life into a frenzied downward spiral and a series of comic misadventures, threatening a major business deal, bringing a crazy stalker ex-girlfriend, Darla (Lucy Punch), back into Tim’s life and driving Julie (or so Tim thinks) into the arms of another man.

Trailer:

Check out the film’s official trailer at http://www.dinnerforschmucks.com/.

DINNER FOR SCHMUCKS opens in theaters nationwide Friday, July 30!

CLICK HERE FOR YOUR PASS: and enter

ATOMICYMX3 for the RSVP code!

Instructions for the winners:

1. If you haven’t already, you will need to register on Gofobo.com in order to download your passes.
2. Utilizing your Gofobo Code (see above), you can then download your screening pass from the website.

Make sure you check out our other free screenings in the Baltimore and DC Area.

Ron Livingston is the beating heart of Mike Judge’s Office Space, a movie that has transcended cult status and is pretty much one of the finest comedies to be released in the 1990s. He’s also pretty notable for the role of Captain Lewis Nixon in Band of Brothers on HBO.

Now, he’ll be joining director Jay Roach (Austin Powers, Meet the Parents) for his new film Dinner for Schmucks.

According to Variety, the film “is an adaptation of the Francis Veber-helmed French film Le dinner de cons, in which a group of bourgeois friends regularly invite the biggest schmucks to dinner to ridicule them.”

The cast that’s shaping up for this film is phenomenal. It’ll be headed up by I Love You, Man‘s Paul Rudd and The Office‘s Steve Carell, who of course acted together in The 40-Year-Old-Virgin. They’ll be joined by Zach Galifianakis and Star Trek‘s Bruce Greenwood.

The script is being worked on by a handful of folks, including Andy Borowitz, who did uncredited work on the original French comedy, as well as Ken Daurio and The Simpsons alum Jon Vitti.

Roach is also gearing up to produce a second sequel to Meet the Parents, entitled Little Fockers, as well as possibly directing Austin Powers 4.

Monsters vs. Aliens

Monsters Vs. Aliens, as great as it is, feels like a step backwards for DreamWorks Animation. With Kung Fu Panda the studio made a film that could contend with some of Pixar’s work, which is why it’s kind of painful that their latest effort couldn’t keep pace. It’s not a bad film by any stretch, in fact, for the most part it’s very enjoyable. At the end of the day, that’s really all it needs to be.

Monsters Vs. Aliens begins with Susan (voiced by Reese Witherspoon) ready to get married to Derek (Paul Rudd, surprisingly). Unfortunately she’s hit with an alien asteroid that contains “quantonium” that causes her to grow 50 feet. She’s abducted by the government and informed by General W.R. Monger (Kiefer Sutherland) that monsters have existed since the 50’s but the government has kept them underground in an effort to protect the public. Susan then meets B.O.B (Seth Rogen, a parody of The Blob), Dr. Cockroach, Ph.D. (Hugh Laurie’s take on The Fly), The Missing Link (Will Arnett does The Creature of the Black Lagoon) and Insectosaurus (a parody of the ToHo Monsters.) They’re called upon by the government to be freed to due battle with Gallaxhar (Rainn Wilson) who plans to take over the earth with his clones.

While it’s not as classic as Akira or WALL*E, Monsters Vs. Aliens brings it in spades with entertainment. The plot is very simple and the film really is more concerned about the characters than it is with telling a grandiose story. It still entertains better than any animated flick since robots fell in love. The standout is Insectosaurus, who is on his way to being the “cute, cuddly” character of the picture. Truly, it’s hysterical to watch him – ready to eat everything one minute then struck dumb when a bright light is shined in his eyes. He’s a nice throwback to the ToHo monsters, and that can be said for the rest of the characters as well. The references are really a testament to the filmmakers’ willingness to keep the adults in the audiences interested. The kids won’t get it, but B.O.B.’s introduction has a scene very similar to The Blob. Even The Missing Link’s appearance is what The Creature of the Black Lagoon would look like if Disney got their hands on him. They’re nice little touches that show the filmmakers care for the material they’re taking on, something that can’t be said about a certain vampire phenomenon.

DreamWorks tends to get all-star ensembles for their animated pictures and this is no different. Leading the way is Reese Witherspoon, who unfortunately isn’t very good here. At times she’s tolerable but frequently comes off painfully annoying. She seems like a child actress who just got their first voice acting role and doesn’t hit the right emotional notes. As a supporting character it wouldn’t matter too much but as a lead it hurts the film. Joining her is Stephen Colbert who voices the President. He’s genuinely unfunny, broad, and everything around him that evokes laughter are the gags around him and not what Colbert does with the character. The rest of the cast is great, including Seth Rogen, surprisingly. B.O.B. comes off as the stereotypical goofy character that all these films have but B.O.B. manages to not annoy. It’s half how he’s handled and half how Rogen delivers him, which is well-intentioned but genuinely stupid creature.

The performance that will probably go underrated is Hugh Laurie’s turn as Dr. Cockroach, Ph.D. He’s overconfident and charming, which is almost the polar opposite of how Laurie is on “House, M.D.” He’s not the most badass character (that goes to either The Missing Link or Ginormica) but he’s the most enjoyable of the bunch. Will Arnett would be right behind him with his Missing Link. Part of me wishes these two could have a standalone film where they’re partners. The Missing Link does some of the coolest stuff and has some pretty killer lines. Kiefer Sutherland was a treat as General W.R. Monger. Who better than Jack Bauer to be a 90-year-old running a secret government operation? He’s emulating R. Lee Ermey, sure, but that doesn’t matter since that’s what his character requires.

The animation in this is nothing short of stunning, and it’s dressed to the nines in 3-D. This is where I strongly suggest that to get the full experience you trek out to your IMAX theater and enjoy this in IMAX 3-D. I won’t lie that seeing a ball fly at at me added to my enjoyment of the film. It was filmed in Tru3-D which really immerses you in the world. Many times I was so wrapped up in the film where I felt like I was a part of an animated world. You know it’s bad when you exit the theater and do a double take. I’m of the belief no words are going to do the animation or 3-D justice and that it needs to be seen rather than me babbling on about it. Again, 3-D IMAX is the only way to experience this film and it is worth the voyage.

Which is why it’s disheartening the plot isn’t as good as it could have been. The film is very much a “look at how cool I am” type and yes it does entertain in droves. I’m also glad there’s some simplicity here but Pixar sets the bar high and things seemed to be going in the right direction with Kung Fu Panda. Monsters Vs. Aliens is not as atrocious as Shrek the Third or Ice Age: The Meltdown but it still feels like a step backward. At the end of the day it doesn’t matter, as the film will entertain the kids and still should be enjoyable enough for adults. As a 3-D IMAX experience, I’d give this four out of five stars but as a regular film…

Rating: ★★★☆☆ 

I Love You, Man

Judd Apatow is by all accounts the new Kevin Smith. For a time in the nineties, Smith had a stranglehold on the comedy world with Clerks, Chasing Amy and (to a lesser degree) Mallrats. His films may not have been high art, but it seemed like most comedies around that time tried to emulate Smith’s dialogue and crude humor. Apatow has now reached that status and I Love You, Man is the most prominent example of that yet. Outside of having Paul Rudd in the film, this movie is not associated with Judd or his compatriots.

The film opens with Peter Klaven (Rudd), a submissive, feminine relator proposing to his girlfriend Zooey (Rashida Jones) who agrees to marry him. So Zooey tells her friends Denise (Jamie Pressly)  and Hailey (Sarah Burns) while Peter can only celebrate with his gay brother Robbie (Andy Samburg) and his parents (Jane Curtain and the always delightful J. K. Simmons.) We see Peter has always had girls for friends and never had real guy friends. This poses a problem as Peter has to find a Best Man for his wedding. At an open house where Peter will sell Lou Ferrigno’s estate, Peter runs into Sydney Fife (Jason Segal) a metrosexual who is there just to have the food and who seems to connect very well with Peter. So the two hang out, a lot, and bond. It seems as if all of Peter’s troubles.

The prevalent problem with I Love You, Man stems from how nothing is really changed by the end of it nor does anything feel accomplished. That may have been the point, but in most good comedies these days the lead is usually changed and the main cast learned something about themselves. Here, everyone remains genuinely the same aside from Peter now having a friend. The filmmakers have opportunities to drive a point home and yet they don’t. Not to say that it would have been cheesy or anything, but it feels very empty once the final frame comes up.

It’s weird to think about and say, but I’ve attended a wedding where the best man was in fact a woman. In that instance I have to ask why couldn’t Peter find one of his gal pals to be there for him? If it was to be more traditional then fine, but the film never says that or even hints at that as a possibility. What also doesn’t help is that it takes way too long for Sydney and Peter to finally hook-up. Sure, there’s a series of funny dates but it feels as if an hour passes before these two actually meet. Then, ironically, the film speeds through everything else. As seems to be a staple of these flicks, Zooey and Peter break-up until to reconcile ten minutes later. Like much of the film, there’s no real build-up to that – or anything else that happens.

There are a ton of laughs to be had though, and that’s where the film succeeds. Paul Rudd seemed born to play the role of Peter who’s more feminine than his wife is. He’s a treat to watch as he tries to be masculine but comes off as awkward. Jason Segal is the complete opposite, but never feels as loud or obnoxious as essentially the Seth Rogen character. He’s more reserved than Rogen’s character but is still macho and portrays himself as ‘the man’. A nice little touch, though, is that Sydney comes off very metrosexual. When he discusses porking a nurse you wonder if he means male or female until we’re actually shown which team he plays for. It helped add a level of depth to what is an otherwise selfish character.

Rashida Jones is decent as Zooey, but is way too accepting of what happens between Syndey and Paul at first. She doesn’t question it, and just takes it like “oh yay, now I don’t have this schlub around when I’m with the girls.” Even when she should be mad about her husband spending too much time with his new friend, Jones just plays it as more of an opinion rather than concern. In fact, that sort of defeats the film’s purpose. So much time is spent trying to find Peter the perfect male friend and yet when he finally finds his mate, she gets upset. Wouldn’t be a problem except most of Zooey’s scenes consist of her with her friends, like she’s putting her friends over Peter.

The supporting characters range from ok to fun. The standouts are Jamie Pressly and Jon Faverau as a married couple that epitomizes two people who are in it just for the sex. Pressly’s Diane is the perfect stuck-up bitch who has no right to be and Faverau is the ultimate alpha male in Barry. Watching him blow up in front of his friends when Peter schools him in a game of poker is one of the best laugh’s the film has. Sarah Burns is serviceable as Hailey, but like her character she’s too bland. The standouts are the dates Peter has, notably Doug (Thomas Lennon) and Mel Stein (Murray Gershnez). Doug is full-on homosexual and lays one of the funniest ever on-screen male kisses on Peter. Mel is a foul-mouthed old man who’s looking for any sort of companionship he can find. Plus, when’s the last time we’ve had an eighty-plus year old man sprout the f-word left and right?

I Love You, Man does it’s job, but ultimately feels like a big missed opportunity. The leads have great chemistry and come off as two best buds, but the film doesn’t feel like it’s out to accomplish anything after the two get together. They could have easily ended the film right after Sydney and Peter hang out and it would have come across with the same effect. They only shoot for laughs, and they do get them but the story has no merit and could have just as easily not happened. It’s a success, but only on the scale that it’s audience will laugh. Otherwise, it’s not going to hold up in future years.

Rating: ★★½☆☆ 

Paul Rudd and Jason Segel are slowly becoming leading men on the big screen. Each has come out of the background as the second fiddle and found a niche in the “every guy” leading man. Last year we saw Jason Segel break out in the very funny Forgetting Sarah Marshall and Paul Rudd break out in Role Models. Director John Hamburg has managed to put together a cast that captivates guy interests – making I Love You Man a movie that you will be proud to take your significant other to see as it is a romantic romedy that is for both him and her.

Paul Rudd and Jason Segel

Paul Rudd plays real estate agent Peter Klaven who is about to marry his 8-month girlfriend Zooey played by Rashida Jones. They have found true love and have a plan to be together forever. Zooey has tons of friends and six of them are to be her Maids of Honor. Peter, on the other hand, doesn’t have any guy friends. He is only close to his family and neither his brother, played by Andy Samberg, nor his father, played by J. K.  Simmons, fit the bill as “best friend” to be Peter’s Best Man.

Enter Sydney Fife played by Jason Segel. Sydney meets Peter at the open house of TV Star Lou Ferrigno, a house that Peter is currently selling. Peter and Sydney become friends and start to hang out on a daily basis. Their friendship blooms over a bond they have for fish tacos, Canadian music sensation Rush, and playing guitar and bass to Rush’s music. Zooey loves that Peter now has a friend that he is close to.

There are some funny lines in this movie as Peter is constantly trying to come up with a cool nickname for Sydney. Early in the movie Peter’s mom and brother are trying to help out by setting Peter up on blind dates with guys to see if there is a connection. This does cause for some awkward moments and funny tension between Peter and the men he is out with.

This movie follows the life and friendship of Peter and Sydney and how they must act with Zooey. Can the three of them come to terms to have a happy marriage? Only time and, I’m sure, a sequel will tell.

With that, what did I think of the movie? It had some funny moments and situations. It tries very hard at being a romantic comedy that everyone will agree on while also keeping the humor neither over-the-top nor muted. This movies manages to show that guys have feelings too and sometimes we need a friend of our own to just hang out and do guy things with. I thought the pace of the movie was fast and didn’t drag or try to give us a setup for the crude punchline. “I Love You Man” is worth seeing this with a crowd that will get the jokes and laugh with you making it a great time to be had by all.

“I Love You Man” is rated R with a runtime of 104 minutes.

Rating: ★★★☆☆ 

Normally, watching a wacky actor vomit into someone’s face would make me roll my eyes and brace for another lame, predictable farce. But when it happens in I Love You, Man, a new comedy starring Paul Rudd and Jason Segel, it sort of works.

Of course, the story is still predictable. Peter Klaven (Rudd) is a great boyfriend without any friends. When Klaven overhears his new fiancé (Rashida Jones) and her friends worrying about his lack of guy pals, he goes on a mission to find a best friend and best man for his wedding.

I’m pretty sure you can guess the rest — a comical group of failed friendships leads right to Sydney Fife (Segal), the friend of Klaven’s dreams, and the two engage in a series of hilarious hijinks together. Like I said, it’s a predictable story that includes the tired vomit-in-the-face gag. But it works for two reasons.

1. Director John Hamburg and writer Larry Levin tell a real story. It’s predictable, but it’s something that could have actually happened to your cousin’s friend’s co-worker who actually almost vomited in some guy’s face and then exaggerated the story over time. It’s funny. It’s just a real, predictable, funny story.
2. Rudd and Segel completely nail it. Rudd plays the calm, quirky guy who reminds you of someone you know, cool but a bit socially awkward. Segel, meanwhile, plays off of it perfectly by being a slightly over-the-top but totally lovable wild guy.

And while the supporting cast were mostly overshadowed by Rudd and Segel, there were a few performances worth mentioning. Rashida Jones is great as Rudd’s conflicted fiancé, in her first major film role, and Andy Samberg doesn’t overdo it as Rudd’s gay, body-building brother. And who can forget Lou Ferrigno’s stunning performance as himself? In fact, the supporting cast played their roles perfectly by staying out of the way, something that seems surprisingly hard to do.

But as these two strong characters begin to build their friendship, the dialogue does take a turn toward the kind of conversation you’d expect to hear in a garage known as “The Man Cave”. If you’re offended by even the brief mention of a “masturbation station,” you’ll probably find yourself wincing in more than a few places. But if you’ve made it through an episode of The Family Guy lately, you shouldn’t worry. I Love You, Man is far less ridiculous and a whole lot funnier.

As a friend of mine described it, I Love You, Man is a romantic comedy for guys. And it’s true, but that’s not a bad thing. It’s the best comedy of the year so far.

Rating: ★★★★½ 

Jason Segel and Paul Rudd

One of the years most anticipated movies, at least in my eyes, is I Love You, Man. And the in your face, blunt humor is why. Check out the Red Band Trailer below and let me know what you think.

This may be the comedy of the year. Would you agree?

What did you think about the trailer? Were your sides splitting or is this just another raunchy comedy?

“I Love You, Man” written by Larry Levin and directed by John Hamburg is scheduled to hit theaters on March 20th, 2009.