Dinner for Schmucks (PG-13, 2010)

Based on filmmaker Francis Veber’s French comedy Le Diner Des Cons (The Dinner Game), DINNER FOR SCHMUCKS stars Paul Rudd as Tim, a financial analyst who wants to move up -- literally and figuratively -- to the big leagues at his firm. A deal he suggests is well-received, but first he must pass the ultimate test: Bring a guest to a company dinner expressly to show off his or her idiocy. As it happens, he nearly runs over the perfect candidate -- Barry (Steve Carrell) works for the IRS and makes painstakingly assembled still-lifes populated by stuffed mice. (They’re actually cuter than they sound.) Barry is eager to make a friend in Tim and agrees to go to dinner, but the 24 hours before the actual event finds the two thrown together in the silliest of ways.

A Paul Rudd-Steve Carrell production can’t fail -- they are, hands down, two of the funniest men working in comedy today. In fact, they’re so simpatico as a team that they should take the show on the road. When they’re on screen, they’re always watchable, with their singular expressions and easy delivery. The supporting cast -- comprised of such comedic heavy-hitter as Jemaine Clement and Zach Galifianakis -- also appeals.

But Dinner for Schmucks still isn’t exactly the perfect cinematic meal. Director Jay Roach and his actors go for broke in terms of absurdity, but there’s something about it that doesn’t quite translate. (Maybe it played better in French?) While some bits are hilarious, others -- like a side plot about Tim’s sexually aggressive female stalker -- feel like a strain. And some sections just seem downright disappointing; the aforementioned dinner, for instance, is a free-for-all mock-fest, and it’s hard to laugh freely when you're cringing too much. One of the key problems, actually, is that the movie takes too long to arrive at that pivotal event in the first place; by the time we finally get to dinner, we’re not all that hungry anymore.