Cedar Rapids [HD]

A Clever, Touching Comedy
Cedar Rapids is a sweet, but never sappy, comedy from director Miguel Arteta, who specializes in small films, usually comedies, which are almost anti-Hollywood in the way they allow humor to come naturally from well-developed characters rather than contrived jokes. Like his previous efforts, The Good Girl and the underrated 2009 film Youth in Revolt, Arteta casts well-known actors against type and allows them to develop their characters while showing off previously unexplored sides of their acting range. Even with actors that are well-known to mainstream audiences, Cedar Rapids flew under the radar, quietly slipping in and out of theatres in early 2011 while mediocrity continued its reign at the box office.

Ed Helms plays Tim Lippe, an insurance agent for Brown Star Insurance in Brown Valley, Wisconsin. Tim is a simple and na