Last night I went to the 10:20 showing of Dinner for Schmucks (note: I'm getting too old for post-8:30 showings). When I see a movie, I like to keep my expectations fairly low so that I'm always pleasantly surprised. There's nothing worse* than hearing a movie hyped up to brilliance only to watch it and wonder what all the fuss is about-- hello, Toy Story 3. Also, before you read my review you should know that I don't go to the movies for a life-changing experience. I can appreciate creative camera angles, intelligent humor, and political statements, but mostly I go to the movies for a good laugh and a 2-hour escape from reality. My dad walks away from every movie with a million ideas of what he would have done differently; I, on the other hand, am a little more lenient.
*Okay, there are worse things: root canals, spoiled milk, stubbed toes... but we've talked about my affinity for exaggeration.
So, here it is: my movie review. Look out, Siskel or Ebert (I can't remember which one of you is still alive), I'm coming for your little director's chair.
Dinner for Schmucks is funny. There were times when I was embarrassed by my own laughter, and there were times when I was just embarrassed. It's one of those movies where the protagonist (the always-delicious Paul Rudd) is besieged by a series of uncontrollable and horrific events that tear his life-- his career, his home, his lovelife-- to shreds around him (a la Ben Stiller in Meet the Parents). There were times when I felt sick for Paul Rudd's character, Tim; there were times when both my movie companion and I put our heads in our laps because we were too uncomfortable to look up (if you think Steve Carrell's Michael Scott is awkward, beware of his character, Barry, in this movie: Michael Scott's tactless lack of self-awareness x infinity). The movie reaches its climax at the dinner, where Steve Carrell and Zach Galifianakis are brilliant together. Flight of the Conchords' Jemaine Clement makes a cameo in an all too familiar Albus Snow-esque role (as seen in Get Him to the Greek and Forgetting Sarah Marshall), but provides several laughs regardless of his cliche character. There is the inevitable emotional catharsis in the main character, and all the loose ends are cleverly tied together for an ending that pleases a relieved-to-be-comfortable-again audience.
As far as vulgarity and the like go, the movie relatively clean. Curse words max out at the f-word being dropped two to three times (practically a G rating these days), and there is a surprisingly limited use of sexual innuendos, although they're not entirely absent to be sure.
Overall, it's a funny, feel-good (when you're not rocking back and forth in horror on behalf of the characters) movie that's worth a laugh or several. It's definitely worth seeing, although this humble critic can't offer any reason why seeing it on the big screen for ten bucks would be anymore impressive than watching it in the comfort of your own home for half the price... unless you just crave that $15 gourmet popcorn, $12 Milk Duds, and $17 soda (and sadly, that's only barely an exaggeration).
To carry on my review theme, I'll add a quick run down of my quaint little town's newest dining establishment: Ichiban.
Ichiban is a Japanese restaurant just next door to the high school; they offer sushi and hibachi dinners at a private table as well as the dinner-and-a-show set-ups as seen at restaurants like Shogun. The sushi menu is surprisingly extensive and moderately-priced, while the hibachi menu seems a little expensive, at least on a college student's budget. The menu does not offer a teriyaki option (as opposed to hibachi), and the hibachi plates do not come with the custom pink sauce (I'm sure there's a more official name for this sauce)-- I happen to consider the main dish a mere vehicle for sauce, so that was a major disappointment for this diner.
I also believe that atmosphere is half the dining experience, and I have to give Ichiban top notches for interior design. It's exterior may look eerily reminiscent of the Hardee's once housed there, but the restaurant itself is beautifully decorated with distressed metal, opaque glass partitions, and water features. Overall, I give Ichiban an 8 out of 10 (read: please add pink sauce to my plate next time, and lots of it) and hope to see it become a staple establishment here in this small town.
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