Cedar Rapids (2011)

During a quiet week of new releases I came across Cedar Rapids, plastered on the cover was Ed Helms' grinning face, Ed played Stu in The Hangover if you didn't already know that. Like most people, I grabbed it purely on the fact that Ed was in the film. Cedar Rapids wasn't the worst movie ever, but it wasn't the greatest either.

John C. Reilly in a scene from Cedar Rapids

Ed plays Tim Lippe, an insurance salesman whose life is passing him by, but after a turn of events Tim is sent to Cedar Rapids for the annual insurance convention. For Tim this is a huge deal, he has never left his small town of Brown Valley, as you can imagine he has very little idea of how the world works. Lucky for Tim he has the guidance of Dean Ziegler (John C. Reilly), Ronald "Ronimal" Wilkes (Isiah Whitlock Jr.) and Joan Ostrowski-Fox (Anne Heche).

Cedar Rapids travels along at a reasonable pace, the scenery is very dull and quiet, I can imagine it must feel that way for many people who visit these conventions often. While at the convention, Tim tries new things such as, drugs, sex with a married woman, skinny dipping, bribery and getting his arse kicked. Tim makes some new friends and realizes that the friends he had may not have been his friends at all.

There's nothing bad to say about the film yet there is nothing good, it wasn't boring but it wasn't exciting. Ed Helms did his best to give the character some flair and make it an enjoyable experience for the viewer, unfortunately, you can't do much with a shitty script. The best thing about the movie would be Dean Ziegler, his inappropriateness and his jokes gave me a few laughs.

All in all a pretty average movie, if you are impressed easily then this movie will be great for you, but for the rest of us, steer clear.

4/10