I would have headlined this "Made in Cedar Rapids," but it was actually shot in Michigan, one of those states that wisely cuts the film industry a big tax break.
But what a fun film! And I say "British-style" because it's carried by believable, average-looking people who are quirky and endearing and have value. The Dweeb as Hero. Sure, Stranger than Fiction had some of that feel to it. But Stranger than Fiction was built on a plot that's not likely to happen, with characters and scenes - Dustin Hoffman, Tom Hulce, the homeless guy - clearly reaching for laughs.
Cedar Rapids, for all its zaniness and coarse language, I bought as a slice of reality somewhere in America. In that vast stretch between New York and Los Angeles are thousands of small towns and cities where people own businesses (sell insurance!) and live their whole lives. Guys whose biggest dream is to get married and have kids. Filmmakers seldom explore that part of the country, and when they do they usually treat it as alien territory populated by people to poke fun at because they're not hip. Bah.
This movie has enough coarse language and dumb jokes to qualify as a Dick-Flick, but you laugh with the characters not at them. Ed Helms is so appealing, and for all his dorkiness, clearly captures the hearts of those he meets. Isiah Whitlock Jr. pulls off an inside joke about The Wire. Sigourney Weaver has a little jewel of a role as an older woman feeling her post-divorce oats.
I loved it. We will have made progress as an industry when films like this start making it to AMC, Regal, and the other big chain theaters. I looked at what AMC had to offer this week and there wasn't a thing I wanted to plunk down money to see, in 3-D or otherwise.
Working my day job later this week on the production side of the camera. Shooting interviews all day at a really swank hotel for a talking heads industrial. I'm doing the interviewing. Eh, it pays the mortgage.
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| Cedar Rapids Poster |
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| Anne Heche, Isiah Whitlock Jr., Ed Helms |
This movie has enough coarse language and dumb jokes to qualify as a Dick-Flick, but you laugh with the characters not at them. Ed Helms is so appealing, and for all his dorkiness, clearly captures the hearts of those he meets. Isiah Whitlock Jr. pulls off an inside joke about The Wire. Sigourney Weaver has a little jewel of a role as an older woman feeling her post-divorce oats.
I loved it. We will have made progress as an industry when films like this start making it to AMC, Regal, and the other big chain theaters. I looked at what AMC had to offer this week and there wasn't a thing I wanted to plunk down money to see, in 3-D or otherwise.
Working my day job later this week on the production side of the camera. Shooting interviews all day at a really swank hotel for a talking heads industrial. I'm doing the interviewing. Eh, it pays the mortgage.
Greetings from Southern California.
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God Bless You, ~Ron
Ron, I spent a good part of my life in Southern California and still find it a lovely place. You say on your profile that you're interested in old movies. Me too! Those who act are always studying how movies are made. It's part of our ongoing education. I usually post on the weekends and have definite views on certain aspects of moviemaking. Feel free to weigh in! I'd be interested to hear what you have to say.
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