Sorry, but Ed Helms could not pull this role off. This was a role made for Ben Stiller.
Ben Stiller can make a character angry at the world, yet still somehow likeable. Not so with Ed Helms work here.
The script was bad, at times really, really bad. Not sure if the writers were indulging in too many edibles when they wrote this, but the timing of the jokes was off. (write high, test material straight!)
Scenes that were supposed to be humorous often ended up being awkward and over done. Like when a comedian tells a joke that bombs, and you watch and cringe as they desperately try to squeeze a laugh out of something that didn't work. At a certain point, leave it. Continuing to try to make an unfunny scene funny just makes it embarrassing. (ie: scene when mom shows up at talk show). With a little work to the script, Ben Stiller could have pulled that scene off.
I can see why this movie got made, and had the script been given more attention, and the lead recast, it would have been a good movie.
Scenes that were supposed to be humorous often ended up being awkward and over done. Like when a comedian tells a joke that bombs, and you watch and cringe as they desperately try to squeeze a laugh out of something that didn't work. At a certain point, leave it. Continuing to try to make an unfunny scene funny just makes it embarrassing. (ie: scene when mom shows up at talk show). With a little work to the script, Ben Stiller could have pulled that scene off.
I can see why this movie got made, and had the script been given more attention, and the lead recast, it would have been a good movie.