In the eighth season episode of The Simpsons, "The Itchy & Scratchy & Poochie Show," Itchy and Scratchy are driving to a fireworks factory. They pass signs: Fireworks Factory 2 Miles; Fireworks Factory 1 Mile; Fireworks Factory 1/2 Mile. Then they meet Poochie and all kinds of shenanigans are happening. Cut to the Simpson family and they are discussing Poochie. Cut to Milhouse Van Houten and he's basically freaking out. "When are they going to get to the Fireworks Factory?!?!"
Despite being generally amused during Miguel Arteta's man-child comedy Cedar Rapids, there was a Milhouse inside of me wondering when they were going to get to the Fireworks Factory.
In this case, the Fireworks Factory are moments of explosive, unpredictable, unbelievably tight comedy sequences. Think of the "furry wall" from Get Him To The Greek. There are antics in the movie, but it never reaches a fever pitch. While in the process of watching the film you'll be laughing, but it isn't a laugh with any meat attached to it.
The set-up is as wide of a pair of goalposts you are likely to get. Ed Helms, so innocent he's never been on a plane, so innocent he calls the woman he's bedding (Sigourney Weaver) Mrs. Vanderhei because she used to be his science teacher, is sent by providence and destiny to represent his small insurance company at a regional conventions in the Big City of Cedar Rapids.
The assembled cast is stellar and they make the most of each scene. John C. Reilly channels his inner Belushi/Bender, Anne Heche is dizzyingly flirty and Isaiah Whitlock, Jr. kills as the mild-mannered nice guy who can fake being a badass. Sadly, the stakes don't ever seem real to me. Helms must bring back the blue ribbon to ensure the future of his company. This is done by ingratiating himself to a super Christian played by Kurtwood Smith. But why would Smith be offering "drink tickets" if he is meant to be a judgmental born-again?
It's a little point, but symptomatic of the script that seems to be stapled-together collection of scenes meant to be a springboard for outrageous comedy. And the thing is, I'd be more forgiving if there were more outrageousness. The problem is that the storyline of Cedar Rapids never quite gets to the Fireworks Factory.
I'm not panning the film, but I am a tad disappointed. I expected more from this movie, but I did have some good laughs. As fate has it, I screened this at Sundance precisely 24 hours after seeing the vastly superior My Idiot Brother. It, too, centers on a wide-eyed dummkopf, but has fully developed characters and, while the film is no less fanciful, it has conflicts based in reality. It is possible that my admiration for that (I'll say it) masterpiece is coloring my opinion of the quite funny Cedar Rapids.
