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Cedar Rapids
A naive Midwesterner insurance salesman travels to a big-city convention in an effort to save the jobs of his co-workers.
2011 · Directed by Miguel Arteta · 87 min · Comedy · Screenplay in the scene database · 4 frames
Tagline
Today is the first day... of the rest of his weekend.
Plot
Tim Lippe, a naive and idealistic insurance agent from a small town in Wisconsin, attempts to give his former middle school teacher, Macy Vanderhei, a promise ring after they have casual sex. She rejects him, citing her recent divorce. A successful agent, Tim is sent to represent his company, Brownstar Insurance, at a regional conference in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, as a replacement for his co-worker, Roger Lemke, who died in an auto-erotic asphyxiation accident. Tim idolized Roger, believing that his death was merely an unfortunate accident, and that he embodied Christian values, the key criterion used to judge the winner of the coveted "Two Diamonds" award, which Roger won three years in a row.
Tim's boss, Bill, pressures him to win again to keep the company afloat. At the conference, Lippe meets fellow insurance agents Ronald Wilkes, Dean Ziegler, and Joan Ostrowski-Fox. He also meets Bree, a prostitute who works the parking lot in front of the hotel. She affectionately calls him "Butterscotch" after he offers her candy. Initially wary of the conference-goers, he spends more time with Ron, Dean, and Joan, and develops genuine friendships, including a crush on Joan. All the insurance agents participate in a scavenger hunt. Tim and Joan win, they bond over dinner, get intoxicated and join Dean in the hotel swimming pool. Tim and Joan begin kissing and are caught by Orin Helgesson, president of ASMI. Tim and Joan flee to her hotel room and have sex.
The next morning, Tim is guilt-ridden and calls Macy to confess, before desperately asking her to marry him. After rejecting him, she suggests to Tim that he take the opportunity to start a new life. Tim returns to Joan, who attempts to comfort him by telling him what Lemke was really like: a sexual deviant who bribed Helgesson for his awards. Tim refuses to believe this and leaves Joan's room.
Plot summary from Wikipedia, CC BY-SA.
Crew
- Written by: Phil Johnston
- Cinematography: Chuy Chávez
- Edited by: Eric Kissack
- Music: Christophe Beck
- Production design: Doug J. Meerdink
- Produced by: Alexander Payne, Jim Burke, Jim Taylor
Cast
- Ed Helms as Tim Lippe
- John C. Reilly as Dean Ziegler
- Anne Heche as Joan Ostrowski-Fox
- Isiah Whitlock Jr. as Ronald Wilkes
- Stephen Root as Bill Krogstad
- Kurtwood Smith as Orin Helgesson
- Alia Shawkat as Bree
- Thomas Lennon as Roger Lemke
- Rob Corddry as Gary
- Mike O'Malley as Mike Pyle
Production
- Country: United States of America
- Language: English
- Studios: Ad Hominem Enterprises
- Box office: $6,861,102
- Themes: hotel, infidelity, friendship, iowa, one-night stand, swimming pool, drinking, naive, insurance agent, duringcreditsstinger
More by Miguel Arteta
On this film
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