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Cedar Rapids (2011)

20th Century Fox Home Entertainment
Blu-ray Disc Released: 6/21/2011

All Ratings out of

Movie:
1/2
Video:
1/2
Audio:
1/2
Extras:


Review by Mike Long, Posted on 6/26/2011

For decades, television actors have worked to make the jump to feature films, presumably in hopes of making more money and reaching a broader audience. For some of these performers, another goal is to spread their wings and show viewers that they can play a different kind of character. So, this makes one wonder, why would an actor take on a movie role where they are playing someone who is very similar to their TV persona? Is this type-casting or a lack of range? These questions occurred to me while watching Ed Helms in Cedar Rapids.

Helms stars in Cedar Rapids as Tim Lippe, an insurance salesman from Brown Valley, Wisconsin. Tim is a very content man, as he loves his job and he's dating his former middle-school teacher, Macy (Sigourney Weaver). When an accident befalls one of his co-workers, Tim is chosen to go to Cedar Rapids, Iowa for an annual insurance convention. The problem is that Tim has never left Brown Valley and he's terrified of going to the "big city". Upon arriving at the hotel (having survived the flight), Tim is baffled by hotel protocol and weary of his roommates, Ronald Wilkes (Isiah Whitlock Jr.) and Dean Ziegler (John C. Reilly), the latter of which he was warned to avoid. Tim doesn't want to join in the partying involved in the convention, but he is intrigued by Joan Ostrowski-Fox (Anne Heche). As Tim attempts to fulfill his obligations at the convention, which include winning a prestigious award which his agency has taken home three times in the past, things begin to spiral out of control and the awkward man from the small town must find a way to adjust to life in the fast lane.

Indie comedies are an odd breed. (Although, it can be argued that Cedar Rapids isn't an indie comedy, despite the fact that it premiered at Sundance.) There is often a question of what separates these movies from mainstream comedies. The difference is that indie comedies usually have a streak of seriousness or darkness running through them. We rarely find one of these films which is simply funny or goofy from beginning to end (although Clerks comes close). Thus, the challenge becomes striking a balance between the comedy and the more mature themes.

And this is where Cedar Rapids has some issues. The first act of the film is very funny, if not a bit elitist. We watch as Tim is befuddled by very mundane and everyday things such as checking into a hotel, African Ameicans, and bars, just to name a few. He is shocked and offended by Zeigler's salty language and becomes confused with Joan flirts with him. This "fish out of water" tale isn't very original (more on that in moment), but it is funny. But, the second half of the movie makes some odd decisions. First of all, the things which Tim encounters go from dull to exciting to over-the-top. The real laughs in the film came from Tim's reactions to things that most of us take for granted. When he's suddenly thrown into situations which will be foreign to many viewers, the movie definitely loses its footing, and becomes too outrageous. The movie's second mistake here is that it follows the indie comedy manual by getting too serious. Now, Cedar Rapids never goes dark, but it tries to get too emotional and, as odd as this sounds, brings in too much plot. A much more streamlined movie would have been more successful.

Which brings us back to Ed Helms. He served as Executive Producer on Cedar Rapids, so he's certainly been behind the movie from the beginning. But, why would he want to appear in something where he plays a character so similar to Andy Bernard from The Office? Andy isn't as sheltered as Tim, but they have comparable points of view. Helms is clearly good at playing uptight and nerdy, but one would wonder why he wouldn't want to try something different -- for example, he could have tried out the Ziegler role here. Also, Tim's behavior is not unlike that of Michael Scott on the episode "Business Trip" from Season 5 of The Office when he goes to Canada and doesn't know what a concierge is.

Based on the trailer, I expected a lot more from Cedar Rapids. The beginning of the film showed true promise and is funny, but the second half can't maintain this pace. The acting is solid and the movie is pleasant enough, but a full-blooded comedy would have been more satisfying. And besides, any movie where Alia Shawkat plays a prostitute doesn't have its head screwed on right.

Cedar Rapids may be insulting to worldly people who have chosen to live in small towns on Blu-ray Disc courtesy of 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment. The film has been letterboxed at 1.85:1 and the Disc contains an AVC 1080p HD transfer which runs at an average of 30 Mbps. The image is sharp and clear, showing only a smattering of grain and no defects from the source material. The colors look good, although the movie has chosen a decidedly middle-of-the-road palette, and the image is never overly bright or dark. The level of detail is good, as we can observe textures on objects, and the depth is acceptable. The Disc carries a DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 track which runs at 48 kHz and an average of 3.5 Mbps. The track provides clear dialogue and sound effects. This is a fairly standard audio track for a comedy. The musical cues provide some nice surround sound effects. The stereo effects are fairly good, most notably in any scene taking place in the hotel lobby. The convention scenes offer pretty good surround sound.

The Cedar Rapids Blu-ray Disc contains several extras. The Disc offers six DELETED SCENES which run about 7 minutes. These are all pretty brief and don't introduce anything new to the movie. But, there is one funny moment cut from the talent show and we're treated to more of the antics seen during the closing credits (which produce some of the only real laughs in the movie). This is followed by a 4-minute GAG REEL. "Convention Connection" (13 minutes) is a series of eight interviews with the primary cast who discuss their characters and their views on the movie's humor. "Mike O'Malley - Urban Clogger" (3 minutes) takes us behind the scenes to see the actor learning his odd tap dance. "Tweaking in the USA" (6 minutes) looks at the bizarre things that Tim sees, taking time to examine in-depth the party which Tim attends. "Wedding Belles - Crashing a Lesbian Wedding" (4 minutes) decides to explore the wedding crashing scene...for some reason, with comments from the writer and the costume designer. "Top Notch Commercial" (1 minute) offers a fake commercial for Tim's agency which didn't make it into the movie. We get two "Fox Movie Channel Presents", one with Director Miguel Arteta (7 minutes) and the other with screenwriter Phil Johnston (7 minutes). The final extra is the THEATRICAL TRAILER for the film.

Review by Mike Long.  Copyright 2011.