Would you watch a movie that was about insurance, insurance agents, or the insurance industry? Most people would immediately decide that those kinds of movies are better used a sleep aid than as a form of entertainment. There is a new movie called “Cedar Rapids” that might make you think differently. It’s about insurance agents, stars Ed Helms, and is getting good reviews.
What makes you decide to see a movie? It could be that you are a fan of the actor or actress starring in a certain movie. Maybe you have a favorite genre, like “Action/Adventure”, “Science Fiction”, or “Romance”, and you prefer to stick to movies in that group. Sometimes, people watch a movie because it is about a topic that interests them. None of these reasons explain why you might want to watch a movie that was about insurance, however. Most people equate the word “insurance” with the word “boring”, and avoid everything that has to do with it.
A brand new movie called “Cedar Rapids” is about insurance agents who go to an insurance convention in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. The main character, Tim Lippe, is played by Ed Helms (who is in the American version of the television show called “The Office”). Tim is the kind of person who is grateful for even the small things in life, and has very little idea of how “the real world” actually works. The tagline for this movie, according to imdb, is “Today is the first day.. of the rest of his weekend”. Tim’s view of the world is about to change as he meets up with insurance agents from other towns, who are basically at the convention to party. Everything I have heard about this film says that it is really funny.
If you are looking for an interesting documentary about insurance, you can check out “Sicko”, which was written and directed by Michael Moore, and was released in 2007. Moore compares the American health care industry to the health care systems found in other nations. I have seen this movie, and found it both surprising and disturbing. This is the kind of movie that can make you really angry.
“The Rainmaker” was released in 1997, and is based on a book by John Grisham. It was directed by Francis Ford Coppola, and stars Matt Damon and Danny DeVito. Damon plays Rudy Baylor, a recent law school graduate. He ends up working with Deck Shifflet, played by DeVito, who is a somewhat shifty former insurance assessor. Baylor ends up taking on his first case representing a middle aged couple whose 22 year old son is dying of leukemia. A bone marrow transplant could have saved his life, but their insurance company denied their claim. This thriller is the kind of movie that makes you want to see the evil insurance company lose their court battle.
Image of Stijn Debrouwere on Flickr