After scoring a solid hit with this year’s under-seen Youth in Revolt, director Miguel Arteta is returning with the Ed Helms-led comedy Cedar Rapids. The film was completely off my radar but caught my attention with a new trailer that has just premiered at Apple.

While this isn’t the most well-composed trailer you’ll see in a while (couldn’t tell you the plot of it until I read the synopsis below), it does do what a trailer for a comedy should: make you laugh, sometimes fairly hard. Seeing, of all people, Isiah Whitlock Jr., who played one of my favorite characters on The Wire (Senator Clay Davis) pretending to have a concealed weapon made me chuckle more than anything I’ve seen from a trailer in a while. And really, the additional reference to the show made by him felt like a great cap to the whole thing. Other members of the cast include John C. Reilly, Anne Heche and Alia Shawkat, best known for playing Maeby on Arrested Development.

Plot: To call insurance agent Tim Lippe (Ed Helms), “naive” is a gross understatement. He’s never left his small hometown. He’s never stayed at a hotel. And he’s never experienced anything like Cedar Rapids, Iowa. Sent to represent his company at the annual insurance convention, Tim is soon distracted by three convention veterans (John C. Reilly, Anne Heche and Isiah Whitlock Jr.) who will show him the ropes and push his boundaries. For a guy who plays everything by the book, this convention will be anything but conventional.

Side note: Cedar Rapis will be playing at Sundance this year and one of our writers should be giving you a review of it from the festival, so be sure to stick around for that.

Cedar Rapids will hit theaters Feb. 11th, 2011.

What did you think of this trailer? Are you excited for Cedar Rapids?