Cedar Rapids stars Ed Helms, John C. Reilly, Anne Heche, Isiah Whitlock Jr. and Sigourney Weaver. This movie opens in Brown Valley, a small, quaint town in Wisconsin, where a timid and quiet insurance agent Tim Lippe (Helms) has lived his entire life.
After being given the ultimate challenge of representing his company at the annual insurance convention, Tim Lippe is excited about how this opportunity could launch his career as an insurance agent. Having never been outside of Brown Valley and “pre-engaged” to his junior high school teacher (Weaver), Tim sets out to the “big city” of Cedar Rapids, Iowa. Between being greeted at the hotel by a young prostitute, Bree (Alia Shawkat), and the drunken midnight rendezvous’ at the pool with Joan Fox (Anne Heche), Tim, once playing strictly by the rules, learns from his new found friends, Dean Ziegler (John C. Rielly) and Ronald Wilkes (Isiah Whitlock Jr.), that going against the grain once in a while has it’s benefits too.
While Cedar Rapids is classified as a comedy, it came off as being a little one dimensional for that genre. There were moments where John C. Rielly provided a silly remark that deserved a laugh but overall it wasn’t a gut busting comedy. This movie seemed to be more about life and morals.
My verdict: 3 stars