Cedar Rapids Reviews

Even though this movie was not really well received, since there were a couple of interesting actors involved, I thought I should check it out anyway. First of all, making a movie about an insurance sells man convention is a pretty tough sell but, personally, I thought they almost pulled it off. Indeed, I liked the general atmosphere created and it is not hard to believe that, in real life, some of those insurers must go pretty wild. As usual, John C. Reilly was pretty awesome, he stole the show every time he was on the screen and I really liked the fact that, at first, he seemed a real douche-bag but he turned out to be a rather nice fellow. I also liked Anne Heche's character even though she was a little too much underwritten for me and, concerning Sigourney Weave, she had even less to do. Still, I wasn't completely sold. Indeed, Ed Helms was rather underwhelming but it wasn't entirely his fault since his character was not really funny or interesting so I didn't care much about what was happening to him. Furthermore, some scenes didn't work very well (the party with Bree was just way over the top) and the whole scheme concerning the Two Diamonds was just totally uninteresting. Still, I think it remains a decent comedy and I guess it is worth a look, especially if you like the genre.

Having never heard of this prior to watching it, I had no set expectations of the movie when I pushed play. And, surprisingly, this movie was very amusing, smart, well written, acted, and cast. It's a slower paced comedy, but an intelligent one. Ed Helms plays a man who has a pretty sheltered and quiet life, and unexpectedly goes to the "big city" for a conference, where he encounters different characters that shake up his life in very entertaining ways.

The cast is awesome, including Sigourney Weaver, Stephen Root, Kurtwood Smith, Alia Shawkat, Rob Corddry, John C. Reilly, and Anne Heche.

Ed Helms is Tim Lippe who lives and sells insurance in Brown valley under Brownstar. Tim is also one of the few people in life who can say he screwed his 6th grade teacher Mrs. Vanderhei. Mrs. Vanderhei is played by Sigourney Weaver who is great in the role , but knows it isn't going to last long. In fact, she bails when things get bad for Tim.

Then the unexpected happens one of Brownstar's employees dies from some sort drug related incident. It is mentioned what happens to the employee , however it's early in the film and we still show an hour and seven minutes remaining. Then as these predictable cheesy comedies go, Tim is asked to replace the drug riddled employee.

What ensues from this point is nothing but bad decision making, adultery, and of course drug abuse. Cedar Rapids is like watching a melodramatic version of The Hangover. It is cracked out on nothing fun and continues to not make one laugh for long periods of time.

Anne Heche, Isaiah whitlock , Jr. , Kurtwood Smith, Mike O' Malley, Stephen Root, and John C. Reilly. All star in this would be great comedy. What Cedar Rapids lacks in a funny script and a real problem to deal with. Not the dilemma we are left with at the end of the film, that has Joan Fox(Anne Heche) walking off towards the inevitability that is; life at home with a husband and children.