Cedar Rapids (15) ****

May 1 2011 by Roz Laws, Sunday Mercury

CEDAR RAPIDS (15)

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CAST: Ed Helms, John C. Reilly, Anne Heche, Sigourney Weaver

PLOT: When a star insurance salesman dies in a sex accident, his naive colleague Tim (The Hangover’s Helms) takes his place at the annual convention in Cedar Rapids, where he is tasked with winning the coveted Two Diamonds Award for the fourth year in a row.

He takes his first flight and is shocked to be sharing his hotel room with a black man (Isiah Whitlock Jr) and obnoxiously annoying Dean (Reilly). Along with fellow delegate Joan (Heche), a wife and mother who treats the convention as time off to live a little, he is introduced to a new world. He’s a polo-wearing, God-fearing man from a small Mid-Western town who, when persuaded to do shots, asks for a cream sherry and uses words like ‘philanderer’. But soon he’s befriending prostitutes, taking drugs and bribing officials.

GOOD POINTS: There are good performances all round, especially from Reilly who shows that Dean has redeeming features. A witty script made me laugh out loud several times.

BAD POINTS: Weaver has very little to do as his much older girlfriend, left behind at home. It’s a little hard to believe that Tim could have such a personality transformation and be so easily corrupted, and the plot is a little slight.

SHOULD I SEE IT? If you like indie films like Juno and Little Miss Sunshine, you’ll like this. It’s not quite as good as those classics, but you will be amused.