Features > Movie Reviews > Cedar Rapids…

Helms hasn’t headlined a movie before, and isn’t likely to challenge George Clooney for any parts soon, but he’s a good fit as a straight arrow small town boy who’s never moved away or grown up in this indie comedy from Miguel Arteta (Youth in Revolt; The Good Girl). 

Tim is an insurance salesman, of course, and proud to work for a local firm, “Brown Star”, keeping things slow and steady, which is how he likes them. He isn’t quite a 40 Year Old Virgin, he’s carrying on a relationship with his ex-teacher (Sigourney Weaver), but he is so anxious to make an honest woman of her she may well be his first girlfriend.

The unexpected passing of a far more flamboyant colleague jerks Tim out of his established orbit. His boss sends Tim to the annual insurance broker convention in Cedar Rapids, where Brown Star is in the hunt for a much-coveted third successive triple diamond agency rating. That Cedar Rapids represents the fast lane to Tim says a lot about where he comes from. Given that he’s never flown before, and in fact he’s never even checked into a hotel before, Tim might seem an unlikely candidate for the job. But the convention is run by a conservative Christian organization, Tim’s kind of people. Just steer clear of Dean Ziegler, the boss advises him. Ziegler (John C. Reilly) turns out to be his roommate…

If I mentioned booze, drugs and prostitutes, you would probably guess that Tim gets mixed up in them along the way – and you would be absolutely right. Cedar Rapids doesn’t break any new ground when it comes to putting the rube through the ringer. At times it feels like a knock-off of the sharp Midwestern satires Alexander Payne has made: Election, Citizen Ruth and About Schmidt (in fact, after writing that, I found out that Payne was one of the producers here), with more than a smattering of Judd Apatow raunch thrown in for good measure.

Still, when it isn’t painting him as ridiculously naïve, the movie does allow that Lippe has good qualities: he’s no cynic, honest, and yes, after hearing his heartfelt tribute to the profession, you probably would want to buy insurance from this man.

Anne Heche and Isiah Whitlock (from The Wire) help ground the comedy in realistic characters and sympathetic observation, and Helms is fine too, but the movie is dominated by John C. Reilly doing another expert variation on his familiar character, the obnoxious boor with a heart of gold. Reilly could play it in his sleep but he’s easily the funniest thing in a flick that raises smiles but struggles to convert them to laugh out loud moments.

It’s an easy watch, but it’s not something you’re likely to feel passionately about one way or the other.

Tom Charity
tom.charity@lovefilm.com