'Cedar Rapids' A Review

Cedar Rapids is a sweet, off-beat comedy with an R rating. Ed Helms stars as Tim Lippe a naive, man-child, insurance agent sent to the regional conference to secure the coveted Two Diamonds award. The movie is essentially in two acts: Lippe at home and Lippe in the big city.

The first half of the movie takes place in Brownsville, WI, Lippe's home town. We follow him on a typical day and find out he loves insurance, has little life experience, and is having an affair with his old 6th grade teacher played by Sigourney Weaver. After that there is a long list of talented supporting actors that really enhance the film. We get a real sense of who Lippe is by how he interacts with people in his small town. After the lead salesman dies in a questionable manner Lippe is told he must give a presentation for the regional insurance conference in Cedar Rapids. Needless to say he's out of his element.

The second half of the movie is pretty formulaic but the richness of the characters makes the typical 'fish out of water' story fresh. Lippe's never flown on an airplane or ever gone to a big city. Helms's comes off so convincing treating the most mundane things(e.g. the hotel lobby) with so much wonder it's as if we are seeing these things for the first time. Once the convention begins the movie really starts cooking. There are sweet, raunchy, awkward, touching, funny scenes that follow. One of the most engaging things about the movie is it's ability to switch from dick jokes to heart-felt effortlessly. The other star of the film is John C. Reily. His performance is multi-layered and hilarious. Lippe is warned about Zeigler(Reily) and so we in turn are skeptical about him. Zeigler is vulgar but sweet and quickly wins Lippe and us over. He also meets Joan(Heche) and Ronald(Whitlock) and the four become fast friends. The chemistry between the four has a great sense of friendship and fun that really translates. One of the greatest moments is where Lippe is at local party and is saved by the other three.

The story is predictable but the actors and the characters they play revitalize the tired plot line. Ed Helms does an amazing job taking us on his journey which is punctuated by fun stupid adventures and burgeoning friendships.

See it.