Dinner For Schmucks

Let’s start with Charlie St Cloud
Its hard for an actor with such a strong presence in the teen crowd to grow up in Hollywood. More often then not we end up hearing actors like him via tabloids later in their career with the idea of scandal over substance. So here we have him in
“Charlie St. Cloud”, a romantic drama where he stars as a young man who survives an accident that lets him see the world in a unique way. In this emotionally charged story, he begins a romantic journey in which he embraces the dark realities of the past while discovering the power of love.
A tween tear jerker…. Let’s face it the movie rides entirely on how much Zac’s fans like to watch Zac. These fans don’t care much about character development, flaws in scripts or even what the entire story is about. This was the best move for Zac career wise to show that he is not stuck singing songs in highschool and that he can carry a film without having cheerleaders fawning over him. I can’t help but feel sorry for the thousands of parents who will have to sit through this surface level emotional ride highlighted by teenage melancholy while holding in their laughter.

Moving on to a real comedy then, Dinner for Schmucks with Steve Carell and Paul Rudd hits movie theatres today.
Directed by Jay Roach who brought you films such as Austin Powers and Meet the Parents,the film unites 2 of the biggest comedic stars today Paul Rudd and Steve Carrell in an unconventional buddy comedy that is less about dinner and more about the Schmucks.
The trailer and title also elude to this dinner party where people are invited to be the butt of other people’s jokes. How far can they carry the joke?
The irony is that the movie has very little to do with the dinner itself and plays out like a classic comedy with shades of movies like Arthur and What’s New Pussycat mixed in. In fact Steve Carell completely channels Peter Sellers in the film playing the not so bright guest being courted by Paul Rudds Character. Throw into the mix a corporate career chase and a predictable love story and you’ve a ripe comedy recipe
Here is what works about the film. The acting carries a rather lack luster script to make it watchable. The stand out performances really come from the stellar supporting cast from Jemaine Clement of Flight of the Choncords fame to David Walliams of Little Brittan Fame to Zack Galaflankis it really is a 2010 Comedy Nascar rally that I could have watched for hours. Where the film will have some detractors is in the fact that you have all this talent and you don’t push any boundaries with the comedy or create anything original, it almost becomes a tribute movie, which I think will cause a younger audience to find the movie a tad mundane.