Things this new comedy has going for it: Paul Rudd. Steve Carell. Zach Galifianakis in cape. That aside, it’s a remake of the 1998 French film The Dinner Game , and we’re not sure the humor of the premise translates.
Rudd plays a guy who is about to get a big promotion at work — but only if he agrees to bring some loser to his boss’s annual dinner party competition thing where everyone is supposed to bring the dumbest person who they can find. After the meal, all of dumb people leave, and the group decides who brought the biggest loser. Carell plays a guy who makes artistic dioramas out of dead mice. He obviously seems like a shoe-in to win.
Our biggest issue with the trailer is that it didn’t make us laugh out loud once. We expected more from director Jay Roach, who almost got us kicked off a transatlantic flight when we couldn’t stop guffawing over Meet the Fockers. Maybe they’re bucking tradition, and just not showing us all of the funny stuff? And P.S. – why does Rudd’s face look so waxy?
Dinner for Schmucks is due out July 23rd, 2010.