Cedar Rapids 2011

Jake Coyle, Associated Press: The gifted Reilly is now almost principally a comedic actor -- and with good reason. He's the most lovable of goof balls, with his eyes rolling around his sockets crazily and a voice that sounds drunk even when it's sober. Read more

Tom Charity, CNN.com: Such sweetness makes the raunch in this honestly funny movie even funnier. Read more

Tom Long, Detroit News: Considering it has to do with infidelity, bribery, drugs, drinking, loutish behavior, fraud and prostitution, Cedar Rapids is really kind of a sweet movie. Read more

Glenn Kenny, MSN Movies: The less uptight... will have an amusing enough time... and some might even be glad that here Arteta's removed enough edge from his man-child hero that there's no chance of any of his quirks resonating in one's head... Read more

Manohla Dargis, New York Times: The jokes sing as well as zing. Read more

David Fear, Time Out: Ping-pongs between empathetic chuckles at Helms's charming social awkwardness and putting him through a raunchfest ringer. Read more

David Edelstein, New York Magazine/Vulture: It helps that Reilly is the opposite of a slob-comic. With his hangdog melancholy, he makes even the nonstop cunnilingus allusions poignant -- the product of emotional longing. Read more

Joe Morgenstern, Wall Street Journal: The main thing about "Cedar Rapids" is that it makes you laugh-often and out loud. Read more

Moira MacDonald, Seattle Times: It's yet another comedy that's trying too hard to sell something past its date. Read more

Scott Tobias, AV Club: The cast, anchored by sweetly goofy Ed Helms, redeems the film at every turn, adding humor and dimension to characters who might have otherwise drowned in tacky grotesquerie. Read more

Bill Goodykoontz, Arizona Republic: A really entertaining effort, aided by some terrific performances. Read more

Wesley Morris, Boston Globe: I imagine the director, Miguel Arteta, is the reason the movie succeeds as well as it does. He mutes the obnoxiousness and concentrates on the performances, nearly all of which are excellent and marked by a sense of real camaraderie. Read more

J. R. Jones, Chicago Reader: Screenwriter Phil Johnston gets a surprising amount of comic mileage from the familiar premise of staid Rotary Club types getting crazy in a strange town, and there are some decent laughs from Helms's fellow conventioneers and partners in crime. Read more

Michael Phillips, Chicago Tribune: Modest in every way, the screenplay by Phil Johnston is enjoyable in the telling even when the details smack of contrivance. Read more

Peter Rainer, Christian Science Monitor: Cedar Rapids takes an inordinate number of wrong turns, but it also has an inordinate number of good laughs mixed in with the not-so-good ones. Read more

Chris Vognar, Dallas Morning News: Like a slightly twisted, modern-day Frank Capra fable... Read more

Lisa Kennedy, Denver Post: When this mix of hopeful and edgy works, you get something like "Little Miss Sunshine." And when it doesn't, you get a cocktail with a bad smell, one part sunny to two parts vulgar. Read more

Lisa Schwarzbaum, Entertainment Weekly: Within the structure of a conventional, well-built comedy fable about an innocent among bigger-city sophisticates - a screenplay bull's-eye for relative newcomer (and native Wisconsinite) Phil Johnston - is something truly original. Read more

David Rooney, Hollywood Reporter: Miguel Arteta's comedy takes a while to find its mojo, but gets there eventually with humanity and heart. Read more

Betsy Sharkey, Los Angeles Times: Though the comedy in "Cedar Rapids" is Arteta's broadest yet, the film reflects the care he takes with his cast, the sort that helped reveal an acting depth no one suspected from Jennifer Aniston in 2002's "The Good Girl." Read more

Anthony Lane, New Yorker: These folk are undistinguished yet distinctive, and the film, for all the familiar grind of its plotting, pays them their honest due. Read more

Stephen Whitty, Newark Star-Ledger: Sure, it may make you uncomfortable while you laugh. But only if you've gotten a little too comfortable laughing at small-town squares. Read more

Elizabeth Weitzman, New York Daily News: The movie belongs to Helms and Reilly, ringleaders who barely seem to notice that the script from Phil Johnston favors easy jokes and obvious setups. They, and the others, give this minor movie major heart. Read more

Kyle Smith, New York Post: These corn-fed Rotarians are such a cuddly bunch, and the movie's barbs are so pudding-soft, that it's not hard to get caught up in all the gee-whizzery. Read more

Rex Reed, New York Observer: This crude aping of every hack from Judd Apatow to the Farrelly brothers represents the worst of what is happening in film today... Read more

Carrie Rickey, Philadelphia Inquirer: Helms delivers a performance of touching delicacy, one almost as remarkable as that of Tom Hanks in Big. Read more

James Berardinelli, ReelViews: Cedar Rapids is a quirky comedy that crossbreeds two common cinematic staples: the mismatched buddy movie and the fish-out-of-water scenario. Read more

Richard Roeper, Richard Roeper.com: Terrific ensemble cast in a smart, funny, sometimes sweet little film. Read more

Roger Ebert, Chicago Sun-Times: The film's director, Miguel Arteta, understands that real laughter grows from characters. He has a rich start with Lippe, played by Helms as a man who is thrilled even to go through security at the airport. Read more

Peter Travers, Rolling Stone: Cedar Rapids is both hilarious and heartfelt. It's also powered by a dream cast, led by the outstanding Ed Helms. Read more

Andrew O'Hehir, Salon.com: If it resembles an inflated pilot episode for a raunchy sitcom more than a motion picture, at least it looks like a show that won't bore you or insult your intelligence. Read more

Mick LaSalle, San Francisco Chronicle: Through the sites and through the attitudes of the characters, and between the words they say, you get an appreciation of how people live and think in that unexplored territory known as the Midwest. Read more

Joe Williams, St. Louis Post-Dispatch: In the dying days of an era when "big city" has been a relative term, the sales-convention comedy "Cedar Rapids" is a loving tribute to American innocence. Read more

Liam Lacey, Globe and Mail: The trouble with embarrassment comedies is we don't all squirm at the same places. Read more

Peter Howell, Toronto Star: Cedar Rapids is agreeable, but no wands are waved. And it's amusing, but not knee-slappingly so. Read more

Trevor Johnston, Time Out: More man-child high-jinks in a comedy which seems to be looking down its nose at smalltown America's terminally unhip, but proves good-hearted and delivers enough laughter to seal the deal. Read more

Claudia Puig, USA Today: This is a Frank Capra-meets-Judd Apatow comedy with a sweetness-laced ribaldry. Read more

Peter Debruge, Variety: Helms is at his best when reacting to others, which is one of the reasons he has made such an effective ensemble player in recent years. Read more

J. Hoberman, Village Voice: A mild comedy of embarrassment, set in the dark heart of Middle America. Read more

Ann Hornaday, Washington Post: Helms's gifts still seem better suited for the small, situation-based set pieces he has done on "The Office" and "The Daily Show With Jon Stewart." Read more