Actors: Ed Helms, John C. Reilly, Anne Heche
Director: Miguel Arteta
Release date: June 21, 2011
MPAA Rating: R
Cedar Rapids tells the story of a weekend in Tim Lippe (Ed Helms), a small town insurance salesman finds himself attending a Conference in the "great city" of Cedar Rapids, Iowa life. When the star sales employee of his company winds up dead is due to an accidental asphyxiation (more on that later), it is up to Tim save future Brown star insurance by winning "Two diamond" award. He is warned by his boss, to avoid the terrible impact of Dean Ziegler (John c. Reilly) at any cost, and so of course they disband, sharing a room. The third roommate is Ronald Wilkes (Isiah Whitlock Jr.), who plays the straight man to actually Ziegler's boorish drunk. And no setup would be complete without a dame in the mix-in this case, Joan Ostrowski-Fox (Anne Heche), who use these insurance conferences as an escape from the tedium of her daily life as a wife and mother of two. As she tells Tim, "what happens in Cedar Rapids, in Cedar Rapids."
Because this is first and foremost a character piece, draw most of the characters to the point of caricature. John c. Reilly's Dean Ziegler is crude and rude, makes inappropriate remarks every time he opens his mouth-and certainly contribute to the film's r rating. Joan is sassy and flirty, but manages to still seem like a devoted wife and mother, even as she sees clear to score. And as Tim Lippe bears more than a passing similarity to Helmss character from The Office, if you are a fan of this show, you will probably like this movie. Just like Andy is Tim naïve, inexperienced to the point of ridiculousness, and an all-in-around-nice guy. Before the Conference, he had never been on a plane, had a drink or (we assume) been with anyone other than his current and recent girlfriend-who also happens to be his former seventh grade teacher (played by Sigourney Weaver). By the end of the film, he is engaged in adultery, disillusionment, and as in any true coming-of-age-story smoking crack.
One of the fun things about this type of film is looking for familiar faces. As Ronald Wilkes Isiah Whitlock Jr. throws out a few overt references to HBO's The Wire (which he played Senator Clay Davis). It was supposedly written before casting, which actually makes them more amusing. Also featured is Stephen Root (Newsradio and a bajillion other things-such as what seems like every Coen brothers ' film, for example), Alia Shawkat (Arrested Development) and Kurtwood Smith (that 70s Show and Robocop, among others).
Although this is billed as a comedy, it is more likely to produce chuckles than outright betting amusement. And while Director Miguel Arteta practises in a few clichés, mostly the clever, well-written dialogue and very nice (although unrealistic) characters keep you see, even as the plot veers from unlikely to even zany. That is really funny moments, but ultimately, Cedar Rapids are more about confirms the value of sweetness and decency of an ordinary guy, and less about getting laughs.
The R rating is earned-actually Ziegler's comments are at times astonishingly repugnant, and there are many other sexual references (accidental death is due to auto-erotic asphyxiation, for example), raw humor in General and situational substance abuse.
Overall, Cedar Rapids is a fun little movies: run-time is relatively short (1 hour and 27 minutes), the plot moves quickly, and they all players give a comfortable performances. If you come to expect only to be entertained, you won't be disappointed. And the film's ultimate message that sometimes the most tedious jobs may reveal or create-heroes, is absolutely worth taking away.
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