Dinner For Schmucks: DVD Review
Dinner for Schmucks
Released by Universal
Rating: M
Taken from the original French film Le Diner De Cons (The Dinner
Game) and Americanised, Dinner for Schmucks stars Paul Rudd as Tim,
a mid level executive who's desperate to break through to the upper
levels of the board room.
One day, he manages a break through by impressing his boss
(Greenwood) over how to net a potential new client Mueller (David
Walliams) and is invited into the upper echelons of the board
room.
However, on arrival there, he's told of a monthly dinner hosted by
his boss which he's duly invited to. But the crux of the dinner is
that each of them has to bring an idiot along as a dinner date for
their collective amusement - and it gets worse for Tim as he
realises the boss picks a winning idiot to give a prize to.
That's where Steve Carell comes in - his IRS worker Barry is run
over by Tim. And as Tim talks to Barry, he realises this
taxidermist could be his in to win the Dinner. You see, Barry makes
diorama and famous scenes with dead mice (eg the Mousea Lisa) and
is clearly some kind of idiot in Tim's eyes.
I have mixed feelings about this film (and no I've not seen the
original French farce)- Paul Rudd puts in yet another good and
likeable act - and Steve Carell is once again, another version of
Steve Carell but starts to irritate a little as the film continues.
However, it's nice they've made him a loser with a back story
that's revealed near the end rather than just a goof.
Dinner For Schmucks can be best described as a meal which promises
so much - in the end it resembles a buffet which initally has
you salivating but ultimately leaves you wanting.
Rating: 6/10
