Starring Steve Carell and Paul Rudd, with Jemaine Clement, Jeff Dunham, Bruce Greenwood, and Ron Livingston in supporting roles, the film tells the story of a rising executive who finds out that his work superiors host a dinner celebrating the idiocy of their guests.

Witnessing Barry's bizarre behavior, including taxidermy and arranging mice into dioramas based on famous artwork, "Mousterpieces", Tim realizes he is the perfect idiot for the dinner.

When Tim realizes what Barry has done, he believes Julie may be at Kieran Vollard's, an artist whose work she is selling at a gallery and who has expressed interest in her.

The brawl ultimately leads to Mueller losing his finger and prized family ring and Fender's mansion burning down.

Tim and Julie marry, Barry gets to have sex with Darla and also does some artwork with Vollard while Therman writes a book in a mental hospital.

The film retains many familiar elements of the original, with the basic plot, including the involvement of the taxation authorities and the love triangle around the main character Tim.

about the title's usage of the Yiddish word schmucks which is a mild cultural insult similar to "idiot" which technically refers to the penis.

Debbie Schlussel asked whether the title should have been Dinner for Schlemiels as it would better describe the clumsy character played by Steve Carell.

[6] Responding in The New York Times, critic Michael Cieply determined that the intent was to be ambiguous as to which of the two main characters, played by Steve Carell and Paul Rudd, was the intended idiot.

[7] In The Forward, Laura Hodes suggested that 'schmucks' correctly referred instead to the behavior of the film's antagonists, the bosses of Rudd's character.

[9][10] As part of promoting the film, the website Funny or Die featured videos of Jemaine Clement in character as Kieran Vollard.

The site's critical consensus reads: "It doesn't honor its source material—or its immensely likable leads—as well as it should, but Dinner for Schmucks offers fitfully nourishing comedy.

[16] Roger Ebert of the Chicago Sun-Times gave the film 3 out of 4:The genius of this version depends on the performance by Steve Carell, who plays Barry Speck as a man impervious to insult and utterly at peace with himself.