Dinner for Schmucks (2010) * * *

Directed by:  Jay Roach

Starring:  Steve Carell, Paul Rudd, Lucy Punch, Jemaine Clement, Stephanie Szostak, Bruce Greenwood, Zach Galifianakis, Ron Livingston

What makes Barry Speck (Carell) and thus Dinner for Schmucks endearing is his guilelessness and outward innocence.    He's a sensitive IRS agent (we don't speculate on how good he is at his job) whose goofy, plucky exterior gives way to a goofy, plucky interior.   What you see with him is what you get.    He thinks curating means sex and plays dead as a way to get people to stop attacking him, but he attaches himself to Tim Conrad (Rudd), a commodities broker looking to get ahead in his firm by befriending Barry and bringing him to the company's "dinner for schmucks".   The dinner for schmucks is meant to showcase the human oddities the company's management brings along so they can be ridiculed and laughed at.    Whomever brings the oddest of the bunch will get a promotion.    Tim is a nice guy in love with his girlfriend Julie (Szostak), but so desperate for upward mobility that he will serve up Barry at the dinner, although not without some compunction. 

We don't have to wait until the dinner to get some big laughs here, and that is a relief.    The best thing about Carell is that he isn't trying to act like such a fool, he is one and a likable one at that.    He creates unusual art pieces involving stuffed dead mice wearing tiny clothes and appearing in small sets.   It is his way of expressing his emotions, some of which are painful thanks to his wife recently leaving him for another man.    The man she leaves him for is fellow IRS agent Thurman (Galifianakis) who believes he can exercise mind control over Barry, mostly because Barry believes Thurman can control it.    No points for guessing Thurman will appear at the dinner and give Barry a run for his money in the goofball department.

In the days before the dinner, Barry innocently ruins Tim's love life through a case of mistaken identity and doing things he shouldn't do in the name of being there for his new buddy.    We can't feel too sorry for Tim, since he has underhanded plans for Barry, but we kind of feel bad for him anyway.    Maybe we are hoping Tim can see what a true friend he has in Barry before it's too late.  Barry means no harm, but causes it anyway, much to Tim's ever mounting consternation.    Rudd rivals Ben Stiller as a master of the slow burn, which is evident in his scenes with artist Kieran (Clement), who has eyes for Julie and has an uber-confident belief his hyper animal magnetism can lure in any woman.    In Kieran's eyes, his conquest of Julie is a matter of time. 

Carell and Rudd, co-stars in 2005's The 40-Year-Old Virgin, have fluent comic chemistry.   The supporting roles are filled by capable comic actors who can help keep things moving as a funny undercard to the main event.    The dinner itself is a bit of a disappointment, mostly because the buildup to it is funnier, but Dinner for Schmucks has Carell as its heart.    We see how Barry, who is happy being who he is, is less of a schmuck than Tim or his bosses.