Cedar Rapids

Until such time as I find recreational drug use to be entertaining, I will continue to have reservations about comedies that feature it. I wish this one didn't, because it does have other things to recommend it.

Namely the cast:

• Ed Helms - (He's the guy who lost a tooth in "The Hangover.") He plays a good-hearted but naïve insurance salesman in a tiny mid-western town (he has never flown in an airplane or stayed at a hotel). When a colleague dies, our hero is tapped to attend an insurance convention in what seems to him, ultra-sophisticated "Cedar Rapids," Iowa. Of course, a lot of the humor comes from the audience feeling vastly superior to this poor schlub.
• John C. Reilly - (Mr. Cellophane in "Chicago.") Our hero has been warned to avoid this guy at all costs, so of course, because of overbooking, the two of them must share a hotel room with...
• Isiah Whitlock, Jr - (He was the crooked senator in "The Wire.") His is the first black face our flabbergasted hick has ever seen. To our great relief, this character is a genuinely decent fellow.
• Sigourney Weaver - (She played the scientist behind the action in "Avatar.") Formerly, her character had been our hero's seventh- grade teacher. Now that she is divorced, she is indulging in some recreational sex, which he mistakes for love...
• Anne Heche - ("Men in Trees") Her character attends these conventions every year and firmly believes that "what happens in Cedar Rapids, stays in Cedar Rapids."
• Stephen Root - (This slick character is a loooong ways from the stapler-centric boob in "Office Space.") He plays our hero's conniving boss, who has more than one dirty secret to hide.

Looking back, I think I'm prepared to overlook that lengthy drug scene and focus instead on the happy ending.