Mike Birbiglia Movies

A childlike insurance salesman discovers his inner grown-up in this comedy from director Miguel Arteta and producer Alexander Payne. Tim Lippe (Ed Helms) sells insurance for a living. He's passionate about his career, so when the top salesman at the company dies on the eve of a big industry convention in Cedar Rapids, IA, his boss, Bill (Stephen Root), decides that Tim should take the trip to represent their company, and possibly accept a major award. Trouble is, not only has Tim never been on an airplane before, but he's in such a state of arrested development that he's even started sleeping with his former elementary school teacher Mrs. Vanderhei (Sigourney Weaver). Arriving at the convention ready to put his best foot forward, Tim hits it off with his hotel roommate Ron (Isiah Whitlock Jr.), but is soon thrust out of his comfort zone when he learns they will be sharing a room with their amoral, hard-partying colleague Dean (John C. Reilly), whom Tim has been instructed to avoid at all costs. Later, when the three unlikely roommates meet up with fellow insurance slinger Joan (Anne Heche), the chemistry just clicks. However, when the ultra-conservative president of the entire organization (Kurtwood Smith) catches Tim in a compromising position, it all starts to fall apart. Now, if Tim can just shed his illusions and finally see the truth about the people he always looked up to, perhaps he can find the courage to recapture his integrity, and return home and face the future with a newfound sense of self-assurance. ~ Jason Buchanan, Rovi

Drew Barrymore and Justin Long star in this romantic comedy about a long-distance romance that may be worth fighting for. Garrett (Long) is still nursing the wounds from a recent breakup when he meets Erin (Barrymore), an unflinchingly honest girl with a big talent for bar trivia. Hitting it off immediately, the pair spend a romantic summer together in New York City. It was supposed to be a summer fling, but as fall approaches and Erin returns to San Francisco, the spark is still there. Subsequently dividing his days between working and hitting the bars with best friends Box (Jason Sudeikis) and Dan (Charlie Day), Garrett drops everything whenever Erin calls. The more Garrett's phone rings, the more his pals begin to suspect that their drinking buddy is taking the relationship a little too seriously. And they're not the only ones; Erin's sister, Corrine (Christina Applegate), is keen to ensure that her smitten sibling doesn't repeat the mistakes of her past, and she makes no attempts to sugarcoat the fact that she disapproves of the coast-to-coast romance. But the heart wants what the heart wants, and as the texting becomes more intense, both Garrett and Erin start to suspect that their summer fling may just be the real thing. ~ Jason Buchanan, Rovi

First-time director/screenwriter Per Anderson crafts his heady parody of the late Stanley Kubrick's life and work which ultimately becomes a study in the true nature of parody itself. Stanley Cuba is a photography student who is currently being courted to sign with the mysterious Guggenvich family by a dubious team of intellectual property lawyers. Of course Stanley longs for the day he will be able to sustain himself simply by means of his art, yet his hard-line teacher claims that all art is war and any true artist is able to survive without pay. Later knocking his head on a rectangular black obelisk, Stanley is suddenly transported to a parallel dimension in which he discovers the true secret of Jackson Pollock's fame. Now, if Stanley could only gain access to room 237 perhaps he could finally achieve true aesthetic transcendence without having to lock lips with his girlfriend's mother. ~ Jason Buchanan, Rovi