Tim
Lippe, played by Ed Helms, lives in Brown Valley, Wisconsin, works as
an insurance agent for Brown Star Insurance company and wears brown
clothes. The only thing that doesn't mark him as a nerd is that fact
that he is having an affair, or as he calls it, "Pre-engaged" to his 7th
grade teacher, Sigourney Weaver, now that he is in his 30s.

Tim
who has never done anything, been anywhere, is plucked by his boss,
Stephen Root, to go to the big city of Cedar Rapids to replace their
number 1 salesman, Thomas Lennon, who died under strange circumstances,
to vie for and win the prestigious Two Diamonds Award, which Brown Star
has won for 3 years in a row.

As a fish
out of water Tim takes his first trip away from Brown Valley, his first
flight on an airplane, stays for the first time in a hotel, meets a
prostitute, Alia Shawkat, smokes pot, inhales coke, has his first taste
of alcohol, gets into a fight, cheats on his 'pre-fiancee', enjoys every
moment thinking "What happens in Cedar Rapids stays in Cedar Rapids."

He
is taken under the wing of his two roommates, John C. Reilly, who is
loud and crude, recently divorced, Isiah Whitlock, Jr., a gay Black man,
in the closet, admirer of the TV show "The Wire", (an inside joke as he
was in that show) and a third insurance agent, Anne Heche, a party girl
who parties at the convention with other agents.

As
Tim is a mild mannered man so is the humor and we follow his awakening,
knowing it will take place, in this easily paced film that doesn't
laugh at him but with him as he unviels the facades of men.

What
seems to be a must in most films today we do have the man sitting on
the commode, the bare butts along with a mooning shot, vulgar terms for
women, free flowing obscenity, all contributing to an "R" rating for a
sweet film.