No need to cook at home, RSVP to this 'Dinner'

Many people know that a lot of the time, PG-13 comedies fail to hit their targets; whereas R-rated comedies attract larger followings since they're allowed to be more edgier and risk-taking. If we believe that Dinner for Schmucks is one of those dull PG-13 comedies, we might have to call ourselves schmucks for suspecting so. Directed by Jay Roach (Meet the Parents), the film is a remake of Francis Weber's film The Dinner Game (Le diner de cons). The two uproariously-mismatched main characters deliver laugh-upon-laugh as they navigate ways to keep their 'friendship' going long enough to make it to the anticipated dinner. You can't ask for anything more from a Steve Carell-Paul Rudd pairing.

Tim (Rudd) is in the running for a promotion at his office. He's then given the chance to join more of his elite co-workers to a dinner held by their boss. The objective is for each attendant to bring the biggest idiot they can find, and then bring them to the dinner to be ridiculed. Tim is then thrust into a moral tug-of-war as people are telling him he should/should not do it. Fate soon shines upon him, and he meets the socially-inept Barry (Carell), an IRS agent who's main hobby is performing taxidermy on mice and creating what he calls "mouseterpieces," imitating famous worls of art. Now that he's found his schmuck, Tim tries to survive the time he has with Barry until the dinner.

Steve Carell brings all of his charismatic wit to the role; his silliness going beyond much of his other work. At one point, Tim describes him as a "tornado of destruction." That's certainly one way of putting it. But we as an audience reap the benefits of that. Carell's character throws the laughs like an endless supply of confetti. And his facial expressions dance along the lines of creepy and funny. Paul Rudd's serious-minded Tim works well off of Barry's eccentric personality, making the two as awkwardly paired as apples and oranges. Rudd isn't by any means a bad actor; but you just wish that his character wasn't so stern, and would allow him to shake loose sometimes and join in on the fun with his co-star, like he did with Jason Segal in last year's I Love You, Man.

There's an abundance of amusing supporting roles as well. We have Therman (Zack Galifianakis, with his always-present beard), who is Barry's co-worker and nemesis, and believes that he can control people's minds. There's also Darla (Lucy Punch), Tim's out-of-her-mind ex-girlfriend, who stalks him as much as she obsessively loves him. And Kieran (Jemaine Clement), is the epitome of a strange, sensitive artist who works with Tim's girlfriend, Julie. I couldn't for the life of me, however, stop picturing Russell Brand with this role that seemed tailor-made for him. It was a missed opportunity for Brand, but Clement is a worthy substitute.

The appealing aspect of the film is that it doesn't depend on too much crude and sexual material to get laughs. Many of them are delivered by the dialogue, along with some nice touches of physical comedy. Particularly a scene with Barry and Darla throwing wine bottles at each other and engaging in unsuccessful role-playing.

Although it's titled Dinner for Schmucks, the actual dinner is only the last 25 minutes of the movie. Before that, we begin to wonder when the dinner will happen; or we would occasionally forget that there's one involved. If the film was cut down a little bit, there might have been more time for the dinner party. I would have loved to see more of Jeff Dunham's character with his ventriloquist-dummy wife, a clever nod to his comedy routine; as well as the loony animal psychic (Octavia Spencer).

Not much time is dedicated to the actual dinner as many advertisments have promised; and we're left with a wanting to see more of these "guests of honor." But surprisingly, the screenwriters bring an adequate amount of zaniness that comfortably fits into the last half hour. As we anxiously, and sometimes impatiently, wait for the climax, Carell keeps the movie alive. He serves our craving for his oddball humor like he does every week on The Office. Jay Roach, thankfully, didn't feel the need to overload the movie with too many obsenities than were needed. All he needed was a talented comic and some screwball comedy.

Final grade: B+