Why do some conservative film critics hate ‘Cedar Rapids?’

Is this a face only a mother could love – or rent?

“Cedar Rapids,” the indie comedy starring “The Hangover’s” Ed Helms in a juicy lead role, didn’t muster much box office noise during its theatrical release – $6.8 million, to be exact.

The film earned a sterling 85 percent over at RottenTomatoes.com but a few right-of-center critics took it to the woodshed.

Let James Frazier start things off:

And that’s where “Cedar Rapids” becomes especially reprehensible, as not only a failed comedy (virtually laugh-free), but as a moral train wreck.

Hunter Duesing over at Parcbench/Big Hollywood smacks “Rapids” across the snout:

“Cedar Rapids” is an example of a cancer in American movies, a horrible disease that has befallen independent movies.

Fellow Parcbencher Greg Victor gives the film a modest pass but can’t help noting one glaring problem:

The jokes may often be tasteless, but they are rarely mean-spirited, with one exception – the inclusion of a Bible-thumping hypocrite named Orin Helgesson who heads the insurance convention. As played by Kurtwood Smith (from TV’s That 70s Show), the character seems to be a cliché whose time has passed. The humor derived from making fun of a Christian of faith (or the addition of a plot twist that results in the Christian being seen as a total hypocrite) is a tired device that shows a lack of imagination on the part of the filmmakers.

I was worried the film would be an insult to flyover country when I first read about the storyline, and I asked “Cedar Rapids” director Miguel Arteta about that when I interviewed him for boxofficemagazine.com.

Here was his response:

We wanted to have some fun with [the characters] but not make fun of them. A lot of effort was made to ride that line. [Screenwriter] Phil Johnston is from Wisconsin. He spent time as a reporter there. He has a true love for these characters.

Ed and [Executive producer] Alexander Payne made sure we didn‘t go over too far. Alexander made us change the restaurant in one scene from an Olive Garden to a sushi place to show the Midwest in a real and unexpected way. I’m hoping people get that.

Did he succeed? I’d say yes and no. I’m glad Arteta was aware of this concern in the first place, and that this very discussion went down. That’s the kind of open debate that I suspect doesn’t happen enough behind the scenes.

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