Tim Lippe (Ed Helms) is a naive insurance agent in a small Wisconsin town who’s never left his hometown nor has ever stayed at a hotel. That is until he is sent to represent his insurance agency at an annual convention in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. He soon is greeted by three veterans (John C Reilly, Anne Heche and Isiah Whitlock Jr) who show him the way and push him hard.

Tim works for Brown Valley insurance and is sent to the convention to bring home another two diamond award that the company has achieved the past two years. Well, for Tim, out on his own and in a strange town with people new to him, most being business clients from other firms preaching their gospled sales pitch. Tim will soon make up for lost years in just a few days. He’s like a kid in a toy store for the first time.

Tim was instructed however who to and who not to associate with at the convention because some might fill his head full of poisonous fairytales. You know where that’s going. Tim stears off course in every unprofessional way known. He even has a prostitute encounter before finally sharing a room with a Afro-American man, Ronald Wilkes, (Isiah Whitlock Jr) and comes face to face with his third roommate, Dean Ziegler (John C Reilly), one of the people his boss told him to avoid.

Pretty soon there is Frat house like partying, drinking, and an after hour pool party. Enter Joan Ostrowski-Fox (Anne Heche, in one of her finest performances to date) a flirty insurance agent who wants to be there for Tim when he gets down and out about selling his soul to the wrong crowd. But sometime being in the wrong place could also prove to be quite fruitful as Tim digs up some dirt on Brown Star.

Tim literally grows up right before our very eyes and although he gets into all sorts of cool trouble, including a fight scene with WIlkes to the rescue in a most comedic way that still make me laugh, he still prevails as the hero of the company, but not in the way his boss had expected. See, it’s either land the two diamond ASMI award or head straight to the unemployment line. Hey trust me on this one, unemployment doesn’t work.

Cedar Rapids tries to be a comedy but acts more like a drama. The film does have it’s pitfalls though, as in a lack of consistency. Some scenes felt out of place, seemed to jump around and the ending felt rushed. On the other hand, pay attention to the singing and one-liners that screenwriter Phil Johnson gifts us so well with.

Reilly’s character had me laughing out loud which I did not expect to. His nasty lines towards women is a hoot and Ed Helm’s character, wow! Cedar Rapids opens on Feburary 18 and is rated R. Not bad for an 86 minute surprise comedy of the season thus far. It’s directed by Miguel Arteta and also stars Sigourney Weaver as Macy Vanderhei, who mostly phones in her part.

By Hustlin Bob Higgins 3 1/2 stars.