Jay Roach directs this story about a mid-level analyst who desperately wants to impress his art dealer girlfriend so she will finally agree to marry him. The film begins with Tim (Paul Rudd) going after a whale of a client that just happens to be his ticket to the corner office and Julie, the girl of his dreams played by Stephanie Szostak (who is, in fact, dreamy). Lance Fender (Bruce Greenwood) is Tim’s cut throat boss and wants nothing more than to increase his own net worth. He accomplishes this by hosting an annual buffoon’s ball, where each member of the company brings his own personal ignoramus. Think of it as Forgetting Sarah Marshall meets You, Me and DuPree.
Enter Barry Speck (Steve Carell) an annoying yet good-natured simpleton that works for the IRS and has a peculiar hobby of dressing up dead mice in everyday outfits. Well, wouldn’t you know it, while driving home one day Barry is struck by Tim who is busy texting. This awkward and painful first encounter gives you a small taste of what’s to come for the rest of the film. Tim plays the straight man that can’t seem to shake his strange new friend.
There are some people who tell me they cannot watch The Office because Carell is just too far over the top and it’s uncomfortable. I am not one of these people. I love The Office and I enjoy a silly, somewhat raunchy comedy as much as the next person. This film cannot get out of its own way long enough to let itself actually be funny. In one scene, an old flame comes to visit Tim and ends up hurling full bottles of wine at Barry. It just leaves you speechless (and laugh-less too). While Zach Galifianakis plays a seriously disturbed, yet entertaining colleague of Carell’s, the creepy and not-so-funny Russel Brand wannabe, Kieran Vollard (Jemaine Clement), cancels him out.
