‘Cedar Rapids’ teaches you how to shed your skin

One of the more pleasant cinematic surprises of the year is Cedar Rapids, a wonderful little comedy from director Miguel Arteta and writer Phil Johnston. At first, the movie starts like many a modern-day comedy: characters are introduced, a few jokes are thrown into the mix and then all hell breaks loose.

But Cedar Rapids decides to take a left turn, rather than follow the usual rubric. It stresses the positive attributes of each of its likable characters, and thankfully the actors are all finely cast.

Ed Helms, from The Hangover and The Office, plays our unlikely hero, Tim Lippe, a company man if ever there was one. He always has a smile on his face and preaches the attributes of his small Wisconsin insurance company. He’s a genuine guy with a corny sense of humor — the type of person who offers a breath mint to a hooker when propositioned for sex. In the love department, he’s scored the ultimate coup: He’s actually in love with an older woman (Sigourney Weaver) who was once his teacher.

A kink is thrown into his chain when the company’s go-to man drops dead and is unable to attend the annual regional insurance conference in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. The big boss, played with a fiery power by Stephen Root, chooses Lippe to represent the company at the meeting and secure the coveted double-star status from the regional chairperson.

At first, he seems like the perfect man for the job. But then Lippe meets three fellow insurance agents who turn his world upside down. His roomies at the hotel are Ronald Wilkes (Isiah Whitlock Jr.), a company tool who talks in constant acronyms, and Dean Ziegler (John C. Reilly), the most unprofessional insurance agent at the conference. Rounding out the group is the beautiful Joan (Anne Heche), a married woman who can’t stop flirting with the men at the hotel bar.

As the conference unfolds, Lippe’s rock-solid façade begins to crumble. Dean shows him a good time by getting him drunk and getting him laid (by Joan, in fact). When Orin Helgesson (Kurtwood Smith), the big man in charge of awarding the two-star status, realizes Lippe is hanging around with the wrong crowd, the insurance agent’s job hangs in the balance.

Johnston’s script is hilarious from beginning to end. It never oversells the characters, but instead falls in love with them. Lippe, Ronald, Dean and Joan become friends and have a good time. They’re not treated as mean backstabbers or cruel colleagues. Having them as the focus makes Cedar Rapids such a joy to watch. Sure, they get into trouble and veer far off the company track, but at its heart, the movie is about four people trying to define their lives by their own standards.

Helms has mastered the nerdy everyman persona, and this may be his best acting effort yet. Reilly is a hilarious basket-case of fraternity hi-jinks. Whitlock earns some of the biggest laughs by being “that guy” — you know, the one who is so enamored of the company handbook that he probably tucks it under his pillow at night. The actor’s matter-of-fact line delivery is spot-on. Heche also has several moments to shine, especially when her carousing catches up to her and she decides to call her family at home.

Cedar Rapids feels like one is watching what happens when adults can’t afford a trip to Las Vegas, so they need to find some cheaper fun elsewhere. For a few days, these business-suit professionals unwind and let loose. Luckily, we’re there to watch the consequences.

What happens in Cedar Rapids, stays in Cedar Rapids.

• Cedar Rapids

• 2011

• Directed by Miguel Arteta

• Written by Phil Johnston

• Starring Ed Helms, John C. Reilly, Anne Heche, Isiah Whitlock Jr., Sigourney Weaver, Stephen Root and Kurtwood Smith

• Running time: 87 minutes

• Rated R for crude and sexual content, language and drug use

• Rating:

• Click here to purchase Cedar Rapids on DVD.