great writing surpasses the rest of the goof ball pack

Rating: 9/10 (22 August 2005)

Don't be fooled by the poster or poor trailers, this is a wickedly funny film that surpasses Wedding Crashers by a long shot. Hopefully word of mouth will bring people into the theatre so that audiences can discover that the film is not the one punch line, purely slapstick humor that the trailers make it out to be. The film is saved from such a fate with a very well written script which brings out the humor in richly fleshed out honest characters and situations we can all relate to. Steve Carell shines, bringing an added depth to his typical "straight man" comedy and showing that he can certainly hold his own in a leading role. The supporting cast excels with just the right touch of absurdity and truth, even without the big named stars found in every other comedy these days. The film actually feels all the fresher for not having the requisite cameos.