Dinner and a Movie...

The Urban Dictionary (not normally a reputable source in serious writings) defines schmuck as “[A] term used to describe someone who is acting dumber than they are…” There are more definitions (Urban Dictionary is essentially a crass mini-wiki), but that quoted is the most astute and relevant.

I’m giving this little off-beat vocabulary lesson because today is the opening day of Dinner for Schmucks. Dinner is the tail (misspelling intended) of Barry—a whimsical and lonely man whose wife left him for his boss—and his unusual hobby of collecting dead mice. Barry (Steve Carell) takes his road kill rodents, and through a painstaking process, builds eccentric dioramas of them. Barry’s a regular at the local taxidermy shop where one day his path quite literally collides with Tim’s (Paul Rudd).  Tim is a business executive in need of a good idiot. You see, Tim’s career hinges on wowing the boss and corporate bigwigs from his financial management firm at Saturday night’s dinner gala. Inviting strange folks to dinner, having them perform and make jackasses of themselves, and then awarding a prize to the best lunatic is seen as a pleasurable pastime for Tim’s bosses. Impress them with a good idiot to laugh at, and Tim’s career is moving up to the next level.  Seems their run in could be good fate.  

Tim has gotten more than he bargained for with Barry, however. Barry clings to Tim like flies on a rotting mouse carcass. Barry’s strange habits and demeanor quickly invade every inch of Tim’s life. Naturally, his love life suffers too.

Also joining the mix of eccentric characters is an artist with what is described as “animal magnetism”, a sex-crazed co-ed, a mind manipulating IRS agent, a Swiss investor, and a whole bevy of pasty-faced women.  Needless to say, the character blend makes for over-the-top weirdness in this comedy. The whole thing culminates at the dinner and well…I’m going to shutup. After all, I’d hate to spoil your Dinner.

I saw an ad for this film a few weeks ago. It looked funny and intriguing. Buffalo News’ “Gusto” feature had good things to say about it today.  That's the power of marketing communications for you.

After seeing this movie, all I can say is I guess I’m the schmuck here. There are too many movies like this: Bathroom humor. Eccentric characters. Boy and girl’s relationship on the rocks due to absurd misunderstandings. With the right gags it can be funny (Rat Race is one of my all-time favorite films).  Unfortunately, it’s an unoriginal vibe that just doesn’t work here or resonate with me anymore.  The cast in this movie was lackluster and brought no life to the characters. Christians may find it offensive that The Last Supper is one of Barry’s dioramas made with mice. The likeness of Christ as a mouse is unsettling and in poor taste—a theme I found predominant throughout the film. Bottom line: this Dinner didn’t taste too good…I’d like my eight bucks and my afternoon back, please.