In an impressive bit of self-manipulation, Helms plays a role that’s essentially an even more uptight Stu from The Hangover, but manages to shape the character, Tim Lippe, into something far richer. Lippe is an underappreciated and sheltered insurance agent from a rinky-dink Wisconsin town who’s banging his one of his old grade school teachers (Sigourney Weaver, still a fox in her early 60s). After the flashiest agent (Thomas Lennon) in his company, BrownStar Insurance, unexpectedly kills himself, Lippe is sent to the annual Cedar Rapids insurance convention. There, he gets mixed up with a motley crew of convention-regulars: Dean Zielger (Reilly), a skirt-chasing, alcohol-loving party-man trapped inside a three-piece suit; Joan (Heche), a married woman looking for non-spousal distractions; Ronald (Whitlock, Jr.), a well-mannered elder statesman; and Bree (Alia Shawkat), the young prostitute ready to jump upon the lonely insurance gents.
The impending months of 2011 are loaded with higher-profile comedies: Your Highness, The Hangover Part II, Bad Teacher. The list goes on. Don’t be surprised, though, if, when the smoke clears and humor-fiends are compiling their respective “Best of 2011” countdowns, Cedar Rapids climbs its way to the top. Forgoing an abundance of gross-out humor and ridiculous sight gags, Arteta and screenwriter Phil Johnston have combined for a movie that’s humorous without going overboard, goofy yet warm-hearted and mindful of its characters.