Review: Unknown (2 1/2 stars); Cedar Rapids (3 stars)

Maybe it's the February doldrums at the cineplex, or maybe I just have a soft spot for Liam Neeson, but I found "Unknown" to be entirely satisfactory. Believe me, that exceeded my expectations. If you've seen all the Best Picture nominations and are sick of staying home to watch Netflix streaming (you don't still have cable do you?), then it could be worth checking out for some popcorn-munching fun. At the very least, you'll finally know whether or not January Jones can act in a role besides that of spoiled brat Betty Draper. Or you can just find out by reading my full review.

I also caught "Cedar Rapids" last night, a film starring Ed Helms ("The Hangover," NBC's "The Office") as a naive, small-town insurance agent on his first trip to the "big city" for a convention. The film received mixed reviews at Sundance this year and, for the first half of the film, I could see why. Helms is adorably pathetic in a way that makes you shake your head and smile (if in a condescending, "big city" way), but the well-worn stereotype doesn't exactly make you laugh out loud.

But the movie's sweet-with-a-coating-of-vulgarity sensibility starts to gel by the time Helms settles in to Cedar Rapids and gets a rhythm going with his fellow conventioneers, played by an outrageous sad-sacky John C. Reilly (always good), a straight arrow Isiah Whitlock Jr. (known primarily for his "sheeeeeettt"-spewing corrupt state senator from HBO's "The Wire," a source for several jokes in the film), and an unexpected, red-headed Anne Heche in a role that hopefully means a comeback. As the group romps around the hotel on scavenger hunts, late-night swims in the indoor pool, and trips to the hotel bar,  Helm's shiny-happy view of the world gets stripped away and takes him to some dark places. Sad for him, but mostly enjoyable for us. And his crisis creates a bond between his new-found friends that makes for some aww-shucks sweetness, if not some genuine ruminations on the nature of true friendship.

As my friend said upon exiting the theater last night, that movie was NTS--Not Too Shabby. Yes, she stole that from the movie, but it's all too appropriate.