I didn’t plan to write a Dinner for Schmucks review.  With a dumb title and a lame “high-concept” premise (Paul Rudd has to find a schmuck to take to his boss’s annual, make-fun-of-schmucks dinner), but a cast of almost every likable, comedic actor in Hollywood (Rudd, Steve Carell, Jemaine Clement, Zach Galifianakis, Ron Livingston, etc.), I figured it’d make for light entertainment; a few chuckles and a pleasant way to spend 90 minutes.  Basically, the same thing I got with Get Him to the Greek, Predators, and to a slightly lesser extent, A-Team.  Mild, unmemorable entertainment.  Not life changing, but time passing.

As it turned out, I was so surprised by what I got, I couldn’t help but write about it.  Boy did I hate this movie.

The script, based on the 1998 French film, Le Diner de Cons, felt like it was written in 1935.  I understand it was meant to be a farce, but everything was so ridiculously theatrical and over the top, it was like watching a badly-translated Mexican sitcom from the 70s.  And I don’t mean their nice sight gags, like the guy with a fly swatter chasing around bee man, (the visual humor of Dinner for Schmucks‘ opening credits, with Steve Carell’s character painting his stuffed mice, was the funniest of the few funny moments of the movie), I mean the overwhelming shrillness, the buffonery, the cartoonish sexuality and face licking (not exaggerating here, there was face licking).  It was all over-the-top, groan-worthy camp, like a freshman drama club student trying to include the “wackiest” thing he could think of every five seconds.

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Today we’ve got the new trailer for Dinner for Schmucks.  I’ll be honest: the concept (Paul Rudd has to bring a dork to dinner so his bosses can make fun of him) seems a little lame, but given the talent involved; Paul Rudd, Zach Galifianakis, Steve Carell,  Jemaine Clement from Flight of the Conchords, Ron Livingston, Larry Wilmore from the Daily Show, and BRUCE F*CKING GREENWOOD; I’d watch them do anything, even kill my mother.  With the stacked roster, it’s almost like Valentine’s Day but for comedy, and not an Al-Qaeda recruitment video.

If the movie is half as good as these screencaps, I’m sold.

[High-res at Apple, hat tip: ScreenJunkies]

Tina Fey and Steve Carell’s Date Night took the top spot away from Clash of the Titans over the weekend, earning an estimated $27.1 million on the strength of solid reviews from critics who overwhelmingly called it, “Okay, I guess.”

Meanwhile, the critically-acclaimed How to Train Your Dragon rode Jay Baruchel’s nasally drone to a solid showing in number three with $25.3 million, and Tyler Perry’s latest half-assed Sunday-school lesson was a distant fourth, dropping like a rock, down 62% from its opening weekend showing for one of Tyler Perry’s steepest drops yet.  But hey, that’s why they’re called Lifetime movies of the week, right? And anyway, its $48 million gross so far is more than enough to earn back the 18 bucks they spent on it. Have you seen the poster?  Tyler Perry’s sporting that creepy grin because he’s thinking of the new muu muu he’s going to buy with all the money they saved  hiring the neighbor kid to Photoshop this thing.  And also because he’s a lunatic. Ten bucks says when he goes home, he puts on his Madea costume and molests himself.  

Elsewhere, Hot Tub Time Machine was all the way down at number seven, where its $36.9 million gross was just good enough to earn back its estimated production budget, but still a lot less than it deserves.  It was funny, dammit.  One slot higher than Bounty Hunter?  Did anyone even know that was still playing?  I’d say that I don’t want to live in a world where Bounty Hunter earns more than Hot Tub Time Machine, but the truth is, I don’t want people who see Bounty Hunter to live in a world where Bounty Hunter earns more than Hot Tub Time Machine.  That’s why I bought this blow torch.

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I love Tina Fey, even if she is a goody two shoes, ooh-look-at-me-I-don’t-do-drugs nerd.  And even though he’s burned us a couple times, I still give Steve Carell the benefit of the doubt.  That said, the first trailer for Date Night was about as funny as a hate crime (and I don’t mean the hilarious kind against clowns). Seriously, mother-in-law jokes?  What year is it?  Anyway, here’s what the early reviews have been saying.  Spoiler alert: they’re better than I expected.

Here’s proof that Tina Fey and Steve Carell could squeeze laughs out of a phone book. Josh Klausner’s script rivals the Yellow Pages for dry and utilitarian.And yet their teamwork turns it into comic bliss. – Peter Travers, Rolling Stone.

“Date Night” is a product substantially inferior to the material routinely finessed by Carell and Fey, on their respective hit shows, into comic gold. And yet “Date Night” gets by, almost despite itself, on the durability and wiles of its stars.  The people on-screen keep saving this one, none more so than James Franco and Mila Kunis. As lowlifes mixed up in the Tripplehorn saga, they give “Date Night” a shot in the arm, simply for the way Franco says the line, “Like I wanna spend the rest of my life selling stolen wheelchairs!” -Michael Phillips, Chicago Tribune.

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While Dinner for Schmucks might sound like a bad high-concept premise — guy has to find a schmuck so he can impress his boss at their annual make-fun-of-schmucks dinner — from a borderline director — Jay Roach of the Austin Powers and Meet the Parents movies — it also has one of the best casts ever assembled: Paul Rudd, Steve Carell, Zach Galifianakis, and our lord and savior Bruce Greenwood forever and ever a-men.  The question is, will the awesome cast outweigh the sort of lame premise which sports no less than five credited screenwriters?

The film is a remake of the french comedy film Le Diner de Cons. The movie co-stars Ron Livingston, Bruce Greenwood, Jemaine Clement, Stephanie Szostak, Jeff Dunham, Rick Overton, and Zach Galifianakis. [via /Film]

Yes, YES! Yes, huh? NO! maybe, yes.  Honestly, I just want to see the movie where Bruce Greenwood finishes washing that horse, is that so much to ask?

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