Dude never stayed at a hotel before, never flew in a plane. Sleeps with and goes needy on his twice-his-age gradeschool teacher (Sigourney Weaver). Sells insurance. In a small town in Wisconsin where vice is shunned. Headed for a work convention. To The City: Cedar Rapids.

There, Ed Helms (The Office, The Daily Show) meets raunchy, wildly funny provocateur, John C. Reilly, who, in trying to convert innocently dippy Helms into a real live human, steals this movie bigtime. I knew Reilly could act when I saw him and Philip Seymour Hoffman switch roles in subsequent Broadway stagings of Sam Shepard’s demanding True West, playing brothers as opposite each other as Charlie Sheen and the Dalai Lama. But now he’s on another level. He takes the standard Apatow vulgar oaf and turns him on his head. Here there’s an underlying niceness and sincerity that permits some of the wackiest, all-get-out, politically incorrect barrage on Helms’ small town square without losing the viewer or the rest of the cast.

Instead a camaraderie develops at the convention between corny Helms, daft Reilly, and an intriguing Ann Heche, who can toss down shots with the boys while lending just enough curiosity and eventual concern over Helms’ dimwitted yet earnest social skills.

Romantic misadventures and fallout on religious hypocrisy ensue. Multiple characters end up in compromising positions in a hotel pool. Midwestern values win the day. And Reilly nonstop chatters about sexual references one more ill-mannered than the next while still staying a friendly pussycat.

8 Butterscotch’s out of 10

Dude never stayed at a hotel before, never flew in a plane. Sleeps with and goes needy on his twice-his-age gradeschool teacher (Sigourney Weaver). Sells insurance. In a small town in Wisconsin where vice is shunned. Headed for a work convention. To The City: Cedar Rapids.

There, Ed Helms (The Office, The Daily Show) meets raunchy, wildly funny provocateur, John C. Reilly, who, in trying to convert innocently dippy Helms into a real live human, steals this movie bigtime. I knew Reilly could act when I saw him and Philip Seymour Hoffman switch roles in subsequent Broadway stagings of Sam Shepard’s demanding True West, playing brothers as opposite each other as Charlie Sheen and the Dalai Lama. But now he’s on another level. He takes the standard Apatow vulgar oaf and turns him on his head. Here there’s an underlying niceness and sincerity that permits some of the wackiest, all-get-out, politically incorrect barrage on Helms’ small town square without losing the viewer or the rest of the cast.

Instead a camaraderie develops at the convention between corny Helms, daft Reilly, and an intriguing Ann Heche, who can toss down shots with the boys while lending just enough curiosity and eventual concern over Helms’ dimwitted yet earnest social skills.

Romantic misadventures and fallout on religious hypocrisy ensue. Multiple characters end up in compromising positions in a hotel pool. Midwestern values win the day. And Reilly nonstop chatters about sexual references one more ill-mannered than the next while still staying a friendly pussycat.

8 Butterscotch’s out of 10