US – Sunday, September 5

Table for two

For Paul Rudd, the decision to star in Jay Roach’s new comedy, “Dinner for Schmucks,” was an easy one. “I thought the script was really funny,” he says. “That was it. It was kind of a no-brainer.” Of course Rudd, who’s built an impressive resume of smart comedies, was just as enamored of the man behind the camera.   

“He’s done so many funny movies and then he goes and does a movie like ‘Recount,’ where he’s just such a smart guy,” he says.

In “Schmucks,” Rudd stars as Tim, an overextended finance worker looking to impress his boss (Bruce Greenwood). He’s given a chance to do just that when he’s invited to an exclusive dinner where the attendees bring the biggest idiot they can find. Despite his moral hesitations, Tim can’t help but think it’s fate when he runs into Barry, a naive simpleton played by Steve Carell — another aspect that made the film an easy choice for Rudd.

While Carell has some experience playing a schmuck thanks to “The Office,” he was naturally drawn to his character’s odd hobby: constructing dioramas using stuffed dead mice.

“The man hours and the attention to detail and the commitment to those dioramas, they were astounding,” says Carell. He was so impressed, in fact, he wouldn’t mind taking one home: “I do hope at some point to own one for my house. I don’t know if it’ll be the Ben Franklin or the Evel Knievel, but I do hope to have a mouse diorama of my very own.”