Well-received at last month’s Sundance Film Festival, “Cedar Rapids” is a jocular send-up of provincial folk at professional conventions. The comedy comes out of a focus on its intentionally bland characters before it eventually runs out of interest for that very reason. The storyline just gets duller, even as our affection for its everyman character remains. Its patronizing idea of the American Midwest, seen mostly from a drab motel in the title’s Iowan backwater, conveys the perfect atmosphere for a slightly raunchy satire.
| On Screen |
| Cedar Rapids |
| 2 out of 5 Stars |
| Stars: Ed Helms, John C. Reilly, Anne Heche, Sigourney Weaver |
| Director: Miguel Arteta |
| Rated: R for crude and sexual content, language and drug use |
| Running time: 90 minutes |
If this low-budget flick gets remembered, it will be for two things: First, John C. Reilly uses his uninhibited supporting performance as a potty-mouthed party animal to steal the movie. Secondly, it is Ed Helms’ big chance to prove himself as a movie headliner. But after a hilarious breakout as the toothless submissive in “The Hangover” and a run on “The Daily Show” and “The Office,” the likable character actor hardly departs from nerdy type to play the protagonist here.
It seems like naive insurance broker Tim Lippe has never left his tiny hometown of Brown River, Wis. He is inordinately thrilled when a twist of fate allows him to represent his self-serving boss (Stephen Root) at a regional insurance conference in Cedar Rapids. The idea is to keep the company’s special award certification that comes from the conference’s professional association, run by a holier-than-thou but corrupt autocrat (Kurtwood Smith).
Directed by Miguel Arteta (“The 40-Year-Old Virgin”) from a screenplay by first-time feature writer Phil Johnston, the meager plot revolves around Tim’s broadening experience at the convention. Will he “wise up” and compromise himself in order to do his job? Will this repressed do-gooder also loosen up, face reality about his lover back home (Sigourney Weaver as a shabby-chic version of Mrs. Robinson), and enjoy the ladies and libations at hand?
Aside from Reilly’s wild and crazy Dean Ziegler, the gaggle of revelers also includes: a jaded married mom (made sympathetic by Anne Heche), a helpful black colleague who changes Tim’s racial misconceptions (“The Wire’s” Isiah Whitlock Jr.), and a wistful hooker with the requisite heart of gold (played by a quirky Alia Shawkat).
