Linbeymusol Wonderful character development!

SmugKitZine Tied for the best movie I have ever seen

Actuakers One of my all time favorites.

Brenda The plot isn't so bad, but the pace of storytelling is too slow which makes people bored. Certain moments are so obvious and unnecessary for the main plot. I would've fast-forwarded those moments if it was an online streaming. The ending looks like implying a sequel, not sure if this movie will get one

Roth van Turnhout Tim Lippe (Helms) has been living in über-sleepy Brown Valley and still "pre-engaged", while selling insurance to protect other people's dreams. But now he's headed to a "major" metropolis - Cedar Rapids, Iowa - where he must try to save his company at a do-or-die insurance convention…..The movie goes for the cheap and easy laugh but don't delivers. There are some funny scenes in this movie. Overall it's just mediocre, to over the top and not funny at all. There were several parts in the movie that really didn't need to either be in the movie, or made sense.Ed Helms falls in this film violently by the basket. Like the rest of the cast. The only one that remains is Anne Heche. But she can't keep this film out of trash on her own.The movie could have been hilarious, but it certainly wasn't.

ejlabolton 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 (thegriffstr@earthlink.net) 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.

evanston_dad "Cedar Rapids" is a moderately entertaining film about an uptight insurance salesman (Ed Helms) who attends his first conference and learns unpleasant truths about the industry and the people he's come to idealize. If there aren't a lot of really stand-out comedic bits to make the film memorable, there are plenty of things about the film that make it consistently enjoyable. Ed Helms is one of those things, giving an appealing performance in a bit of a stock role. John C. Reilly is another of those things, as a loutish buffoon who becomes one of the film's chief and most likable protagonists. And another is Anne Heche, cute and winning as a pseudo-love interest for Helms' character. I'm not sure the film is developed very well -- the journey Helms' character goes on happens too quickly and conflicts are a bit too patly resolved -- but it's not the kind of film that will stand up to too much scrutiny. Enjoy it for what it is, a fairly pleasing comedy for adults.Grade: B

meeza The indie comedy "Cedar Rapids" goes by pretty rapid with its 89 minute running time, and that is somewhat a good thing but it's mostly not such a bad thing. The film stars Ed Helms as Tim Lippe, a small-town insurance salesman who is sent out by his Brownstone Insurance Company to Cedar Rapids for an annual insurance convention. Bill Krogstad (Stephen Root), the owner of Brownstone Insurance, instructs naïve Ed to brownnose the Insurance Convention President so Brownstone can once again receive a prestigious Insurance Award. Tim meets three convention regulars in: the insurance entrepreneur workaholic Ronald Wilkes who is a devotee to the HBO Show "The Wire", the foxy middle-age insurance rep Joan Ostrowski-Fox who looks forward to the convention on annual basis for a little escapism, and the spirit-fueled (in more ways than one, and more drinks than one) vociferous insurance rep Dean Ziegler who is the Dean of Convention Partying. I will keep my lips sealed on what happens to Lippe so I don't spoil the fun for you, but let's say it is the time for Tim to unwind. Director Miguel Arteta's effort is not close to being a work of art with its semi-muddled style, and Screenwriter Phil Johnston did not phil up the scribe with a mesmeric narrative; but what Arteta & Johnston (sounds like a law firm) were able to pull out in their filmmaking were magnificent supporting characters to the picture. Ed Helms was pretty much taking off the same characterization of his infamous Stu in "The Hangover" franchise with his leading work here as Lippe; so yea, it was adequate but it did not hungover with freshness for too long since we have seen it before. However, it was the two amigos and one amiga of Lippe what sold me on "Cedar Rapids". I was wired in to Isiah Whitlock's performance as Ronald Wilkes; and that voice of Whitlock is one of the best in the business, might even surpass the Freeman. Anne Heche was captivating as Joan Ostrowski-Fox, and I was joanzing for Joan every time she appeared on screen. And definitely the apex of "Cedar Rapids" was the scene-stealing performance of John C. Reilly as Dean Ziegler, one of the funniest comedic performances of 2011; and his R2D2 impression while intoxicated in a pool could just be the funniest moment I have seen in a 2011 movie. I cannot insure you that you will love "Cedar Rapids" because it is for an acquired taste. But for the most part, like a decent comedy, "Cedar Rapids" is there. **** Good