Ed Helms has more than one Hangover in this fish-out-of-water tale as a milquetoast insurance salesman sent off to the big, bad city (well, Cedar Rapids in Iowa) to attend a convention.
The reason? Mainly John C. Reilly’s boozy blowhard, an agent of chaos who steers him off the straight-and-narrow into a world of sex, hedonism and frat-boy hi-jinks.
Combining vulgarity with tenderness, director Miguel Arteta makes Helms both a figure of fun and an appealing hero.
If you want a real trick, wait for Reilly’s party piece over the end credits.
