nowego Deciding to watch this was totally based on the IMDb reviews so I wasn't sure what to expect. Happily after watching this twice in a few days I can say it really hit the spot.Not being a huge fan of any of the leads and not having seen anything of Ed Helms prior I was not expecting anything brilliant here, but I really enjoyed this both times watching. I would regard this as a feel good comedy rather than a straight out comedy. Some of the humour would not be appreciated by everyone and will probably be regarded as quite silly, but I think it suited the movie.John C. Reilly's movies can be a bit hit and miss, as his humour tends toward toilet humour in many cases and if you are not into that it can be a bit of a turn off. While some of the humour is a bit lowbrow, if you can get over that you will enjoy this movie.I gave it a 7 out of 10 and will be watching it again.

p-stepien Miniscule-town insurance agent Tim Lippe (Ed Helms) has cocooned himself from reality in a world of naive love and impregnable honesty. Self 'pre-engaged' to his former primary school teacher Macy Vanderhei (Sigourney Weaver) works for a company, which prides itself with consequently winning an award for best insurer. After the estranged death of his colleague, Lippe is forced to venture to the 'big-city' of Cedar Rapids to pitch for his company winning another trophy at a big convention. Released from his safe environment Lippe is thrown in with the sharks, such as the restrained African-American Ronald Wilkes (Isiah Whitlock Jr.) and the obscene and in-your-face Dean Ziegler (John C. Reilly), both his roommates, or the seductive Joan Ostrowski-Fox (Anne Heche). With his innocent charm Lippe manages to befriend the local prostitute Bree (Alia Shawkat) and soon becomes a focus of interest by both Ziegler and Ostrowski-Fox, both intent on 'deflowering' him in their own way...Thrown over some silly humour the cast fail to stir up any excitement, apart from the entertainment provided by Reilly spurting out crude gibberish with his crass, but endearing and well-meaning character. Somewhere in between I suppose a sense of social comedy was supposed to be afloat, let's say an odd coming-of-age story, but ultimately it just slowly drifts by failing to deliver some fire or captivate with quirky characters. The dialogue is rigidly awkward, probably intentionally, but the manner of narrative failed to appeal, instead dragging until the final credits.

ejlabolton The "Cedar Rapids" storyline was good enough to maintain interest, provided one ignored over-the-top performances and a tendency to drift towards being a dreaded Hollywood "LAFF RIOT".Tim Lippe (played by Ed Helms) seemed miscast and was one of the worst offenders. With Sigourney Weaver as a prime example in "Snow Cake," many actors see being drunk, mad or under the influence of drugs as an excuse to depict all three types of behaviour, at the same time, and more of their own invention thrown - without restraint. In short, "anything goes". In this vein, Tim Lippe was able to wheel in predicably unrestrained impressions of being over-pious, tongue-tied, retarded, autistic, childlike, extraverted, introverted, chaste and sex-crazed as the whim took him.Whilst I don't agree with reelgriff ([email protected]) from California (above) that the script was actually "Lazy," I'd certainly agree with this criticism as regards over-use of bad language and the movie's various sub-plots.The themes of over "religious" people being hypocrites, prostitutes having hearts of gold, paragons of virtue being led astray and supposedly comic characters getting "high" are totally "Lazy" and have been absolutely done to death in low-grade comedy.All this is a pity because, with a little more sophistication, the movie was memorable and had quite a lot of potential.

meeza The indie comedy "Cedar Rapids" goes by pretty rapid with its 89 minute running time, and that is somewhat a good thing but it's mostly not such a bad thing. The film stars Ed Helms as Tim Lippe, a small-town insurance salesman who is sent out by his Brownstone Insurance Company to Cedar Rapids for an annual insurance convention. Bill Krogstad (Stephen Root), the owner of Brownstone Insurance, instructs naïve Ed to brownnose the Insurance Convention President so Brownstone can once again receive a prestigious Insurance Award. Tim meets three convention regulars in: the insurance entrepreneur workaholic Ronald Wilkes who is a devotee to the HBO Show "The Wire", the foxy middle-age insurance rep Joan Ostrowski-Fox who looks forward to the convention on annual basis for a little escapism, and the spirit-fueled (in more ways than one, and more drinks than one) vociferous insurance rep Dean Ziegler who is the Dean of Convention Partying. I will keep my lips sealed on what happens to Lippe so I don't spoil the fun for you, but let's say it is the time for Tim to unwind. Director Miguel Arteta's effort is not close to being a work of art with its semi-muddled style, and Screenwriter Phil Johnston did not phil up the scribe with a mesmeric narrative; but what Arteta & Johnston (sounds like a law firm) were able to pull out in their filmmaking were magnificent supporting characters to the picture. Ed Helms was pretty much taking off the same characterization of his infamous Stu in "The Hangover" franchise with his leading work here as Lippe; so yea, it was adequate but it did not hungover with freshness for too long since we have seen it before. However, it was the two amigos and one amiga of Lippe what sold me on "Cedar Rapids". I was wired in to Isiah Whitlock's performance as Ronald Wilkes; and that voice of Whitlock is one of the best in the business, might even surpass the Freeman. Anne Heche was captivating as Joan Ostrowski-Fox, and I was joanzing for Joan every time she appeared on screen. And definitely the apex of "Cedar Rapids" was the scene-stealing performance of John C. Reilly as Dean Ziegler, one of the funniest comedic performances of 2011; and his R2D2 impression while intoxicated in a pool could just be the funniest moment I have seen in a 2011 movie. I cannot insure you that you will love "Cedar Rapids" because it is for an acquired taste. But for the most part, like a decent comedy, "Cedar Rapids" is there. **** Good