Cedar Rapids

Introduction

I'm not a huge fan of modern comedy films, that's comedy without the action - which I think of as a separate genre entirely. With the odd exception I find that most go for the riotous laugh-a-second vibe, which inevitably just means an endless procession of tit and fart jokes. I prefer in general for my comedies to be a little more tasteful (ok, this doesn't explain why Dude, Where's My Car? is probably my favourite comedy ever...) and these appear to be few and far between. But here comes Cedar Rapids, where will this fall?

Tim Lippe (Ed Helms) is the man who people thought may go somewhere but didn't. Living in a tiny town in Brown Valley, Wisconsin, Tim works as an insurance agent for the tiny Brownstar Insurance firm. Rather naive and innocent, Tim has never left the town or worked anywhere else. Cocooned and protected from the world at large, Tim's greatest achievement to date is the weekly sex session with Macy Vanderhei (Sigourney Weaver), who was actually Tim's 7th Grade (think age 12...) teacher. Tim classes this as 'pre-engaged' but Macy just considers it fun since her divorce.

But then Brownstar's top insurance salesman dies in an auto-asphixiation accident on the eve of the annual ASMI convention where the coveted 2 Diamonds award is presented to the top firm, won by the dead salesman for the last three years on the trot. Tim is therefore packed off to the conference, to represent his company and win the award - despite never travelling on a plane, hiring a car or staying in a hotel. Tim is still chuffed with his mini suite, despite discovering he will be rooming with two others, when he discovers one of his room mates is rival salesman Dean (John C Reilly). Dean, or the Deanzie, is on Tim's list as someone to completely avoid, apparently a thoroughly dishonourable character and a hard party man.


Tim's other room mate is softly-spoken and gentle Ron (Isiah Whitlock Jr), whose party piece is an impression of a character from 'HBO award-winning show The Wire', which isn't so bad. Tim also meets married but free spirited Joan (Anne Heche), whose motto is 'whatever happens in Cedar Rapids stays in Cedar Rapids'. Finding he is stuck with this group of assorted conventioneers, Tim finds himself on a downward spiral to moral deviation and the coveted 2 Diamonds award seems as if it will remain unattainable...

Extras

A mixed bunch of short featurettes alongside some deleted scenes. I'm pleased to see the deleted scenes weren't included in the final edit and the featurettes were fine for what they were, but nothing special.

Also included is a spoof Top Notch TV commercial, but you need to see the film first to understand the context. That is quite funny if a little OTT in execution with deliberately bad SFX...


Overall

I wasn't sure if I was going to like Cedar Rapids, with the face of Ed Helms staring at me like a loon from the disc artwork. His character's exaagerated naivety didn't exactly inspire me at first either, but slowly I actually got into liking this film. Cedar Rapids is a rather gentle comedy where the laughs are more subtle than in-yer-face. Thing is, I don't think a lot of that is actually down to Ed Helms either, I give the credit mainly to his co-stars.

Anne Heche is superb as the unhappy married mom who just wants a bit of fun now and again, the annual conference being the only time in her life that she can really let her hair down and escape the responsibilities of her life. I don't think I've seen her in anything else but I like her style here, it's subtle and I can't think that anyone wouldn't like her as a friend. Speaking of subtle, Isiah Whitlock Jr is severely understated as the rather comfortable and likeable Ron. I've never seen The Wire, apparently he was in it for 6 years playing a politician, but referencing it with his character was rather funny and works, even if like me you didn't know his history. John C.Reilly is the real scene stealer as the raucous salesman with a heart of gold. Reilly gets the best lines and thankfully is given the space he needs in order to deliver them with maximum effect.


As a fish out of water comedy, it works overall but I can't help thinking that Tim's journey is a little over exaagerated in places. Maybe they ran out of insurance related gags to run within the confines of the conference, but the brief sojourn into taking class A drugs was more unsettling than fun and also seemed to have very little impact overall on our downtrodden hero. The politics and curruption regarding insurance and conferences was a good theme though and works, albeit in a gentle Midwestern way. Not sure it would have worked in any other setting.

This is a good slowburner of a comedy that won't be to everyone's liking but is amiable enough...