Tim Lippe (Ed Helms) is a reserved small town insurance salesman in Brown Valley, Wisconsin. He sleeps with his former teacher Macy Vanderhei. They are "basically pre-engaged". Brown Star Insurance is in line for an important Christian two diamond award from a trade association. When their ace presenter Roger commits suicide, Tim is sent to the big city of Cedar Rapids, Iowa to make the presentation. His boss Bill Krogstad sets him up with trusted Ronald Wilkes as his roommate and warns against Dean Ziegler. He's surprised by Ziegler as his other roommate. He falls for insurance agent Joan Ostrowski-Fox from Omaha, Nebraska. Orin Helgesson is the president of the trade association. Tim is clueless that Bree might be a prostitute working the convention.The stakes may not be earth shattering but it is massive for these characters. This takes the conservative provincial world of insurance and digs up some fun inappropriate nuggets. The best thing in the movie is the great cast delivering well conceived characters. It's light subversive humor with some big laughs. John C. Reilly and Anne Heche are terrific. Ed Helms is hilarious embodying this small town guy. It's a comedy operating at a slower speed and it's fun to see. It's also an engaging drama about morality.

The "Cedar Rapids" storyline was good enough to maintain interest, provided one ignored over-the-top performances and a tendency to drift towards being a dreaded Hollywood "LAFF RIOT".Tim Lippe (played by Ed Helms) seemed miscast and was one of the worst offenders. With Sigourney Weaver as a prime example in "Snow Cake," many actors see being drunk, mad or under the influence of drugs as an excuse to depict all three types of behaviour, at the same time, and more of their own invention thrown - without restraint. In short, "anything goes". In this vein, Tim Lippe was able to wheel in predicably unrestrained impressions of being over-pious, tongue-tied, retarded, autistic, childlike, extraverted, introverted, chaste and sex-crazed as the whim took him.Whilst I don't agree with reelgriff ([email protected]) from California (above) that the script was actually "Lazy," I'd certainly agree with this criticism as regards over-use of bad language and the movie's various sub-plots.The themes of over "religious" people being hypocrites, prostitutes having hearts of gold, paragons of virtue being led astray and supposedly comic characters getting "high" are totally "Lazy" and have been absolutely done to death in low-grade comedy.All this is a pity because, with a little more sophistication, the movie was memorable and had quite a lot of potential.

Of course, there were the usual nice guy gone wild scenes, and stock happy ending, but this ensemble cast pulled it off brilliantly. There were many scenes in which I laughed out loud. I was disappointed in the scant use of Sigourney Weaver, however. Overall, a fun time was had by all who watched it. John C Reilly really made the movie. A true comedic actor. Ann Heche played a believable bored housewife out for her yearly fling. Good to see her again. Ed Helms played the perfect dork with a conscience. Isaiah Whitlock was solid, and I laughed at many of his scenes, but when they had him play a stereotype "black dude", it was kind of predictable, especially the reaction at the party in which everyone was "scared". Still, with all it's flaws I enjoyed it. Definitely re-able.

With all of the Hollywood movies either being a superhero movie, sequels, or remake/fairytale ripoffs it is finally good to see a new original script. This movie is hilarious. Great characters and cast chemistry. Ed Helms steps onto the big screen from the Office and does not miss a beat. I see him getting bigger in the coming years. John C. Reilly however absolutely steals the show playing the scumbag salesman with a good heart. Movie is a little dark at times and was somewhat disappointed in the ending but overall a solid original comedy with great acting. It is good to watch a comedy that does not feature the Apatow dick and fart jokes that last for 2 and half hours or a Will Ferrell movie that is mindless humor.