Tim Lippe (Ed Helms) is a reserved small town insurance salesman in Brown Valley, Wisconsin. He sleeps with his former teacher Macy Vanderhei. They are "basically pre-engaged". Brown Star Insurance is in line for an important Christian two diamond award from a trade association. When their ace presenter Roger commits suicide, Tim is sent to the big city of Cedar Rapids, Iowa to make the presentation. His boss Bill Krogstad sets him up with trusted Ronald Wilkes as his roommate and warns against Dean Ziegler. He's surprised by Ziegler as his other roommate. He falls for insurance agent Joan Ostrowski-Fox from Omaha, Nebraska. Orin Helgesson is the president of the trade association. Tim is clueless that Bree might be a prostitute working the convention.
The stakes may not be earth shattering but it is massive for these characters. This takes the conservative provincial world of insurance and digs up some fun inappropriate nuggets. The best thing in the movie is the great cast delivering well conceived characters. It's light subversive humor with some big laughs. John C. Reilly and Anne Heche are terrific. Ed Helms is hilarious embodying this small town guy. It's a comedy operating at a slower speed and it's fun to see. It's also an engaging drama about morality.
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