When I saw the trailers in theaters, I was kinda excited. I've never been one to go to the theaters for a comedy though. I feel it doesn't take advantage of the bigger-then-life presentation that the big screen offers. So, away to my Netflix queue it went. After hearing some friends of mine saying they enjoyed watching this recently, I bumped it to the top of my queue. It took a few weeks, but I finally got to this. Let's say that I didn't miss out on anything by waiting.
Cedar Rapids follows Tim Lippe (Ed Helms) as he heads to an insurance agent convention, in place of a deceased co-worker. His agency has won the prestigious Two Diamond award back-to-back and it's now his turn to make his agency proud. The recently passed co-worker was the won making the wins, though. Tim has to take his place and learn to play with the big dogs. And quickly, I might add. Unfortunately, he isn't even mature enough to handle seeing a black man. Cedar Rapids is a heart-felt coming-of age film for those 40 somethings still seeing life thru the eyes of a 20 something.
Likes - I enjoyed this film. It was cute and charming but had enough bite to make me remember I was an adult. Ed Helms does a bang up job playing Tim. Frankly, it's not much of a stretch though. Tim is a more sheltered and less pampered version of Andy from The Office. But why fix something that isn't broken, right? John C. Reily really stole the show. He plays Dean Zeigler, the raunchy, party animal foil to Tim. He is the total opposite of Tim, giving nicknames to everyone he knows, drinking every moment he breathes, and telling as many off colored jokes he can between sips. We come to appreciate even Dean though. He is the most honest character of the whole film. We even see Meaby from Arrested Development show up! That was a nice surprise. All around, the cast makes this film, not just one guy. Sure, the film is about Tim growing up, but he couldn't have done it without his cohorts in crime and mischief.
Dislikes - Nothing in particular stood out that I didn't like. That said, this film isn't that memorable. Sure it was good but it didn't have any moments that made you blurt out "WTF?!?!". There were no moments that people will be quoting to the point of annoyance. At the time I watched this film, I wanted two things - to complete a movie viewing and to relax with something that wasn't too dense. I got exactly that. Cedar Rapids is definitely worth watching once. But any more spins seems a bit excessive.
Overall - If you have other movies you're waiting to watch (hopefully because I recommended them), watch those first. If you're bored and want something that makes you chuckle and gives that feel good feeling at the end, watch this. 3 out of 5 stars.
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