A sweet, smart, and handsome man loses his job, his car, and the girl he loves. Sounds like a drama, right? Yet Jay Roach’s Dinner for Schmucks, based on the 1998 French farce Le Dîner de Cons, takes this destructive downward spiral and—with the right amount of zaniness—proves it can be hilarious.

Paul Rudd stars as Tim Conrad, an ambitious, charming executive on the verge of a big promotion, so long as he attends his boss’ monthly dinner for “extraordinary people” and brings a mock-able schmuck as his guest. Conrad thinks he’s struck gold with IRS worker Barry (Steve Carell), whose hobby is making elaborate dioramas using dead mice. Then Barry manages to inadvertently ruin Tim’s life in just a few days (we’ll let you experience the details for yourself).

Schmucks is cringe-worthy from start to finish—filled with awkward situations caused by misunderstandings and lies. The action is occasionally even too painful to watch, like Meet the Parents (also directed by Roach) to the nth degree. But it’s hard to get bogged down in, or depressed by, the unfortunate developments when every other minute holds a clever sight gag, fantastic supporting performance, or relatable character (even the smarmy executives are good actors you can’t help but love and hate). Flight of the Conchords’ Jemaine Clement’s pseudo-deep artist, brimming with “animal magnetism,” is just as ridiculous and funny as Zach Galifianakis’ neurotic IRS employee, who thinks he can control minds. Brit actress Lucy Punch, as Tim’s crazed stalker, lets genuine emotion and feeling make her over-the-top sexual advances and violent rages entertaining (she’s Pepé Le Pew on crack).

As Barry, Steve Carell plays a more extreme, yet less offensive version of his Office alter-ego, Michael Scott—the stupidity is there, but not the offhand digs about race, gender, and sexual orientation. Barry is tolerable because he’s so earnest and loving; his destructive tendencies arise from sheer foolishness, rather than malice. Rudd’s character, on the other hand, is a bit weak in comparison: The actor excels in charisma and is perfectly believable as the straight man, but lacks the playfulness needed to blend with all the absurdity.

The plot culminates in the schmuck-filled dinner, which lives up to its promise (someone even loses a digit in the chaos). It’s the best part of the film—when the “normal” characters collide with a whole band of eccentrics, including a ventriloquist, a blind fencer, and a pet psychic. Too bad Roach decided to tie the Schmucks up so tightly at the end. What borders on edgy comedy becomes, in its final minutes, a trite lecture about not ridiculing others—a lesson for schmucks.  

Sum…ology: Cringe. Laugh. And, unfortunately, learn.