December 23, 2010 
The trailer for Fox Searchlight’s new comedy Cedar Rapids has debuted online. It stars Ed Helms (The Hangover, The Office) as a small-town insurance agent from Wisconsin who heads to the big city (ahem, Cedar Rapids, Iowa) for a conference and enjoys a weekend of a lifetime.
Cedar Rapids first landed on our radar last year, when Phil Johnston’s screenplay appeared on the 2009 Black List (an annual roll of the best unpublished scripts in Hollywood). Cedar Rapids was 5th on the list; if I may add some confusing context, The Social Network was 2nd and The King’s Speech was 21st.
Looking past the annoying opening narration, there is a lot of promise here. Ed Helms is a likable enough lead, and he’s joined by the always wonderful John C. Reilly and Isiah Whitlock Jr. (from The Wire – which gets a shout out in the trailer too). We understand the screenplay is rather dark, which is fitting for director Miguel Arteta’s previous filmography (Youth in Revolt, The Good Girl).
Check out the trailer and share your thoughts below!
Cedar Rapids also stars Anne Heche and Sigourney Weaver. It makes its debut at Sundance in 2011.
Discuss: Does Helms’ have what it takes to carry a film?
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