Cedar Rapids is a cracking little comedy from director Miguel Arteta (The Good Girl, Youth and Revolt) and it stars two of my favorite comedy actors around at the moment in Ed Helms and John C. Reilly.

The film is very sweet and charming at times, a trait which is equaled by its crudeness and funny visual gags. It all comes together to form a well rounded but slightly flawed comedy which benefits from a very solid all round cast performance.

The story is of Tim Lippe (Helms), a naive native of a small town called Brown Valley. He’s never ventured past its borders, knows little of the world and is pre-engaged to his 7th grade teacher Millie Vanderhei (Sigourney Weaver). Tim works for the successful Brown Star Insurance company, winner of the coveted Two Diamond award three years running thanks to the company’s golden boy Roger Lemke.

However, when Roger is found dead after “accidentally” choking himself with his belt, Tim is sent to Cedar Rapids to represent the company at an annual insurance convention and to bring home the Two Diamond award for the fourth time.

The film is then a journey of discovery for Tim as he comes under the guidance of three convention veterans: foul mouthed party animal Dean Ziegler (Reilly), seductive Joan Ostrowski-Fox (Anne Heche) and straight talking nice guy Ronald Wilkes (Isiah Whitlock Jr). As the film progresses Tim starts to bond with his new friends, discovers the pros and cons of alcohol, drugs and prostitutes and learns the ‘way of the convention’.

There are laughs a-plenty mixed up in the inevitable life lessons learned where Tim grows as a human being as well as a professional in the insurance business, but it all comes to a head when he is forced to face the reality of what he has to do – to bring home the Two Diamond Award for Brown Star.

There are some brilliant moments in Cedar Rapids. If you want some hilarious visual comedy – you got it, if you want some crude jokes and shock humor there’s some of that too, but the joy of the film is watching Tim truly understand not only the ‘way of the convention’ but also the importance of growing as a person. There are a lot of laughs, and a lot of heart too. Cedar Rapids worked very well for me and although it will inevitably take a back seat to the likes of Hangover 2 in terms of popularity and box office takings, it will offer more charm and charisma than most comedy films released this year.

I’m a huge fan of Ed Helms, his turn in The Hangover is legendary and his hilarious performances in the outstanding ‘The Office’ (the American version) are always incredibly memorable and one of the main reasons I keep watching it. In Cedar Rapids, Helms shows again what brilliant comic timing and delivery he has to make a character worth rooting for. The only issue I had with his performance is that at times Tim Lippe came across as being a mentally challenged and that he was a man with a child’s brain instead of someone lacking in life experience which is more a script issue than a performance one.

John C Reilly seemed to have the most fun in the film delivering some very (enjoyable) crude jokes and sight gags that worked for a majority of the film but wore thin as time went on. His character of Dean Zeigler lives for the Convention and has no ambition of gaining the Two Diamond award and that gave Reilly some freedom to just let loose and be the devil on Tim’s shoulder throughout  – delivering a  vast amount of the laughs in the film.

Given that Ed Helms and John C Reilly are the main focus of the film it gives the brilliant Isiah Whitlock Jr a chance to steal a few scenes from them. He hilariously references “HBO’s The Wire” (of which he starred in) and mimics the iconic Omar from the show to get his friends out of a fix. His gentle and harmless demeanor was the perfect counterbalance to John C Reilly’s outrageous behavior and allowed the film to change pace quickly depending on who Tim was hanging out with. The final member of the convention gang is Joan Ostrowski-Fox played by Anne Heche. Her character was surprisingly complex as she uses the conventions to escape her reality of having a family and is the source of attention for the guys, especially for Pre-engaged Tim.

Overall Miguel Arteta has delivered a fine comedy movie, It shows a great deal of heart and offers plenty of laughs from some very enjoyable characters. It’s better than Youth and Revolt and fans of Helms and Reilly will be rewarded greatly.

Cedar Rapids is out on 29th April and with the hideous Royal Wedding coming up on the same day and like me you need somewhere to escape it, then I encourage you to go spend 90 minutes of the day watching Cedar Rapids.

***½~ (3.5/5)

Here’s something nice for the weekend, it’s five brand new clips from new comedy, Cedar Rapids. The movie is directed by Miguel Arteta and stars Ed Helms, John C. Reilly, Anne Heche, Sigourney Weaver, Isiah Whitlock Jr.

Synopsis: To call insurance agent Tim Lippe (Ed Helms), “naïve” is a gross understatement. He’s never left his small hometown. He’s never stayed at a hotel. And he’s never experienced anything like Cedar Rapids, Iowa. Sent to represent his company at the annual insurance convention, Tim is soon distracted by three convention veterans (John C. Reilly, Anne Heche and Isiah Whitlock Jr.) who will show him the ropes and push his boundaries. For a guy who plays everything by the book, this convention will be anything but conventional.

Cedar Rapids hits UK cinemas 29th April.

1. Cedar Rapids – Clip – Rominal

2. Cedar Rapids – Clip – Check Out These Digs

3. Cedar Rapids – Clip – Scavenger Hunt

4. Cedar Rapids – Clip – We Won

5. Cedar Rapids – Clip – Who Wants To Get Wasted

Jamie put up the trailer for new Fox Searchlight comedy, Cedar Rapids at the end of last year and now her ewe have some new images for the movie which has a cast which includes The Hangover star, Ed Helms alongside John C. Reilly, Anne Heche, Sigourney Weaver, Stephen Root, Alia Shawkat, Mike O’Malley, Rob Corddry and Seth Morris with Miguel Arteta taking the reigns as director.

Synopsis: Tim Lippe (Helms) was the guy people always thought would go places but then he just … didn’t. He’s been living in über-sleepy Brown Valley, Wisconsin his whole life, still “pre-engaged” to his 7th grade teacher Millie Vanderhei (Weaver), while selling insurance to protect other people’s dreams. But now, Tim’s stalled life is about to get a kick-start because, for the first time in his 34 years, he’s headed to a “major” metropolis – Cedar Rapids, Iowa – where he must try to save his company at a do-or-die insurance convention that, for him, will be entirely nonconventional. From the minute he checks into his hotel with his ancient American Tourister and cummerbund money-belt, it’s clear Tim has no idea how the modern world really works. He is soon smitten with seductive Nebraskan insurance agent Joan (Heche) and awed by his experienced roommates, the straight-shooting Wilkes (Whitlock Jr.) and the suspicious Zeigler (Reilly). Disheartened when he comes face-to-face with corporate corruption, Tim is ultimately lured beyond the lobby into an urban jungle he’s only ever seen on DVD and when it seems his life – and chances to succeed – have gone completely topsy-turvy, he finds his own unjaded way to turn it all around.

Cedar Rapids is due for release in the UK later this year (we think).

Source: Filmofilia

Fox Searchlight Pictures, via Apple, have released the first trailer and poster for comedy film Cedar Rapids.

Directed by Miguel Arteta (Youth in Revolt), Cedar Rapids stars Ed Helms, John C. Reilly, Sigourney Weaver, Anne Heche, Kurtwood Smith, Stephen Root, Alia Shawkat and Isiah Whitlock Jr.

To call insurance agent Tim Lippe (Helms), “naive” is a gross understatement. He’s never left his small hometown. He’s never stayed at a hotel. And he’s never experienced anything like Cedar Rapids, Iowa. Sent to represent his company at the annual insurance convention, Tim is soon distracted by three convention veterans (Reilly, Heche and Whitlock Jr.) who will show him the ropes and push his boundaries. For a guy who plays everything by the book, this convention will be anything but conventional.

Cedar Rapids is scheduled to premiere at the 2011 Sundance Film Festival in January before opening in US cinemas on February 11.

Check out the trailer and poster below:

Going into Youth in Revolt, I really didn’t have much knowledge about it.  I knew that it was based on a book of the same name.  I knew that there was a pretty big following and excitement for the movie was growing daily. I knew that the cast bench was deep and they were all well known in their own right.  But beyond that, I was in the dark.  Sometimes that’s the best way to see a movie I think.  As the lights dimmed and the movie started, I settled in wondering how it was all going to turn out.

Michael Cera plays Nick Twisp.  An awkward 16 year old who is stuck in a broken dysfunctional home.  Estelle, his mom (played by Jean Smart)is unemployed, dependent on the child support checks she collects from Nick’s dad George (Steve Buscemi).  Estelle mainly focuses her attention on her truck driver boyfriend Jerry (Zach Galifianakis), who doesn’t really want anything to do with Nick, and George is mainly focused on his girlfriend, who isn’t much older than Nick himself.

A botched deal of Jerry’s leads him to flee town for a week with Estelle and Nick in tow.  Taking refuge in a trailer park, Nick meets the girl of his dreams, Sheeni Saunders (Portia Doubleday).  Sheeni is everything Nick wants.  She’s smart, insightful and ambitious.  She also has a boyfriend.  Nick, knowing he must do what it takes to win Sheeni over, develops an alter ego, Francois Dillinger.  Francois is all of the things that Nick isn’t.  He’s daring and willing to do the things that Nick won’t.  Suffice it to say, Francois gets Nick into heaps of trouble, all to win the heart of Sheeni.

I don’t want to give too much away, so I won’t go into any more detail than I already have. Let’s run down the details of the film.

The Cast:
As I mentioned, the cast bench for this was pretty deep.  Not only were the above mentioned in it, but Justin Long, Fred Willard, Ray Liotta, M. Emmet Walsh and Mary Kay Place were all in it as well.  Most of the characters were bit parts next to Nick and Sheeni. I actually expected to see more of Zach Galifianakis since I felt they hyped him up in the trailers.

Michael Cera is great at playing the awkward teen boy type, but the problem in that, is that all of his roles will start to resemble one another.  I would really like to seem him play against type just to see what would happen.  Don’t get me wrong, I like him, I just want something different on occasion.  Seeing him play Francois was a bit of a change, but you could still feel that Cera-esque quality.

Portia Doubleday did a good job with Sheeni as well.  She came off older than her age, which was in line with the character and was able to navigate Sheeni’s dialogue easily.  She approached what I can only describe as a blasé calmness.

The rest of the cast were well placed, but I would have liked to have seen more.  I felt Zach Galifianakis was under used and I would have also liked to see more of Steve Buscemi.

The Film:
The film was well paced.  It didn’t feel too long or too short and at no time was I looking at my watch wishing it would end.  There is enough going on to keep it interesting, but not too much to be overbearing.

The comedy is abundant as well.  Given, some of the laughs are out of discomfort, but it’s funny none the less and since everyone else was laughing, I didn’t feel like I was the only one with a warped sense of humor.

The film was inter-cut with bits of animation as well which took me by surprise.  One part utilized clay-mation, while another part reminded me more of the opening credits to Juno.  It was an interesting mix and a fun way to break up the film.

The one thing I can say is I felt like I got a different package than what the trailer suggested.  Mind you, I’m not disappointed at all.  I was expecting some raunchy teen comedy, and in some aspects that is what I got.  But the film was much more endearing than I had expected and while it may fall flat with some, I found it to be a fun way to spend 90 minutes.

Youth in Revolt is directed by Miguel Arteta and will be released in the UK on February 5th.

The ubiquitous Michael Cera is a Youth in Revolt, and having charmed 94% of the planet with his perpetual teenage geekery and now it looks as though the other 6% will have their chance, as the trailer for her next film Youth in Revolt is launched.

The cast for Youth in Revolt is an impressive, if male dominated, one, with Cera teaming up with Justin Long and Zach Galifianakis with veteran support from Steve Buscemi and Ray Liotta. The story has Cera as Nick Twisp falling in distant love with a supposedly unobtainable girl and you can guess the rest, but the source material is well regarded and if Director Miguel Arteta can capture the whistful, random essence of C. D. Payne’s novels then we’re in for a treat. Check out the trailer below.

The film will be released in early 2010.

Youth in Revolt Trailer #2

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