Cedar Rapids

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This is a very American comedy, with all the American-comedy staples: The dick jokes, the numerous gay jokes, the guy being totally clueless about everything and being a fish out of water (although he might just be mentally challenged).

And you have all the regular people: Ed Helms, John C. Reilly, Stephen Root, and a few others you might not expect.

The premise is simple enough: above-mentionned clueless guy is sent to Iowa for an insurance conference. He is at first rigid, but sure enough he starts to loosen up by drinking, dancing, singing and -of course- falling in love. And of course: it ends with a speech.
On top of that, he has to share a room with Clay Davis and Dewey Cox.
Then it gets kinda serious, as if it was trying to prove that it wasn't just a dick-jokes comedy, but something deep and touching.

In a way, the serious moments show that all the actors are actually good actors, not just loud, brash comedians. But, damn it: I didn't watch this film to have some 'Masterpiece Theater' moments. I wanted more obvious jokes about genitals!

This is as if 'The Big Kahuna' was done by Mike Judge. Unfortunately, it sounds better than what it actually is.

I really thought for a moment that John C. Reilly's character would turn out to be an asshole. Or that Heche's character was some kind of spy working for another company. But no. What you see is what you get. Literally. They pile on the clichés, in lieu of 'character development.' For example: While everyone is sleeping, Reilly looks at a picture of himself with his ex-wife. So, we get it: he's sad and lonely, so that explains his loud mouth.

Nicest moment for me was to hear Mr Whitlock (Clay Davis) say that he was an enthusiast of the HBO TV series 'The Wire.' And later on, he says he does a pretty good impression of Omar. But I really REALLY wanted to hear at least one 'sheeeeeeeeeit!'

So, the acting is good, the story is typical and predictable, there are many smiles, some giggles, a laugh or two. In short: it's the typical US comedy, with less laughs than usual.
And, to be honest, it's less trashy than usual. For better or worse.

All that's missing are bare (female) breasts and dicks. American comedies love showing dicks on screen these days. And of course there are no scenes with the main character taking drugs and going ape shit. Oh, wait... No, there is. How original.

I'm guessing all those things (minus the drug thing) are missing, because hey: it's not just a dick-jokes comedy. It's has something to say.

But what it has to say is anybody's guess.

PS: Had I been on set, I would have begged Root and Whitlock to do a scene as their respective characters from 'Office Space' and 'The Wire.'
How funny would that be?
'Now, now... Now... they said I could listen to my music at a reasonable level.'
'Sheeeeeeeeeeeit!'
'This is the last straw!'

Or have them do the Walken/Hopper scene from 'True Romance,' as their characters from 'The Wire' and 'Office Space.' Root would be Hopper and Whitlock would be Walken. Come on, that would be great!