Dinner for Schmucks

Rising executive Tim Conrad works for a boss who hosts a monthly dinner in which the guest who brings the biggest buffoon gets a career-boost. Tim plans on not attending until he meets Barry, a man who builds dioramas using stuffed mice. Barry's blundering but good intentions send Tim's life into a downward spiral, threatening a major business deal and possibly scuttling Tim's engagement to his fiancee.

Critics were largely cool on this American remake of the French comedy 'Le Dîner de Cons', finding it uneven and a poor steward of its source material despite a game cast. The central debate was whether Steve Carell's performance as the hapless Barry could carry a film that most felt squandered its premise with fitful, inconsistent laughs rather than sustained comic momentum.