Contemporary cinema’s man-child auteur Miguel Arteta (“Chuck & Buck,” “The Good Girl,” “Youth in Revolt”) returns doing what he does best in his funniest and most poignant film to date with “Cedar Rapids.”
On top of mastering his genre, Arteta is extremely fortunate to have funny-everyman Ed Helms (Andy Bernard on TV’s “The Office,” “The Hangover”) delivering an emotional and hilarious performance as his lead, supported by an excellent and capable comedic cast, including John C. Reilly (“Step Brothers”), Anne Heche (TV’s “Hung”), Isiah Whitlock, Jr. (TV’s “The Wire”), Stephen Root (“Office Space”) and Sigourney Weaver (“Ghostbusters”), among many other recognizable surprise cameos.
The story follows insecure small-town Midwestern insurance salesman Tim Lippe (Helms) as he travels to an insurance convention in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, to ensure that his firm receives the coveted Two Diamond Insurance award.
In his attempt to stay on the straight-and-narrow, his guard eventually is let down by the dynamic team of Reilly, Heche and Whitlock, who allow Lippe to find himself through a series of laugh-out-loud situations.
In this growth scenario, Lippe learns how to escape the confines placed on him. Helms, previously not asked to add seriousness into his characters, fully embraces the gravity of accepting adulthood with emotion and gusto.
The film’s conclusion wraps things up a little too nicely, but at least it maintains the same bright tone and thankfully, the movie is the perfect short running time. Arteta captures the wholesomeness of America’s Midwest values through Helm’s Tim Lippe, and yet breaks through that typical stereotype to transform him into a man willing to stand up for his beliefs, regardless of the outcome and political correctness. B+
Ari Silber is a Loyola MBA student.Before graduate school, he worked for nine years in the Los Angeles film industry, focusing on marketing, publicity and distribution. He can be reached at
After a number of hit TV shows (“Happy Days,” “The Simpsons”) and emotionally complex films (“Broadcast News,” “As Good as it Gets”), writer/producer/director James L. Brooks has seen his creative output squandered in the past few years.
It would be wonderful if his latest, “How Do You Know,” were an exception to that rule. Alas, it is just another over-budget and over-bloated mess about a completely unlikable softball player (Reese Witherspoon) who goes back and forth between two men. The DVD contains standard bonus features. C-
The inspiring British film “Made in Dagenham” highlights the true story of a group of spirited women in the 1960s who stood up against gender inequality in the workplace.
The triumphant tale stars Sally Hawkins (“Happy-Go-Lucky”), Miranda Richardson (“The Crying Game”), Bob Hoskins (“Who Framed Roger Rabbit?”) and Rosamund Pike (“Barney’s Version”). The film is worthy of its four BAFTA (the British equivalent of the Academy Awards) nominations and provides even more background on the remarkable story in the Blu-ray bonus features. A-
