Review of Dinner for Schmucks (2010) by John M — 17 Sep 2011

Dinner For Schmucks, a remake of the 1998 French film, Le DÃ (R)ner de Cons, is a brilliantly silly, well-put-together movie.

Paul Rudd is, as almost always, wonderful as the straight man, perplexed by, not only Barry and the â~schmucksâ(TM), but also the people making fun of them. He is very funny himself, but also allows others - most notably Carrell and Galifianakis - to shine.

But the movie belongs, quite rightly to Steve Carrell, who deftly walks the fine line between endearing idiosyncratic and annoyingly stupid. He is able to make you feel guilty for laughing at this buffoon, suddenly reminding you that he is a person too, and that one manâ(TM)s schmuck is another manâ(TM)s genius.

This is a light-hearted, very funny film, to which the phrase â~stupid is as stupid doesâ(TM) most definitely applies.