Sunday, November 09, 2008
A+E, Movies, Reviews
No surprises, but ‘Role Models’ delivers laughs
It’s too stupid to be truly offensive and has some brilliant off-the-wall gags
Courtesy of Universal Pictures
Seann William Scott and Paul Rudd
“ROLE MODELS”
Seann William Scott, Paul Rudd
Directed by David Wain
Rated R
Wide release“Role Models” boasts a formulaic, derivative plot about two guys who become better men by mentoring boys, and wall-to-wall homophobic and sexist dialogue. But it had me laughing from the get-go. It’s too stupid to be truly offensive and has some brilliant off-the-wall gags.
The zip missing from Judd Apatow’s recent comedies is here, along with some of Apatow’s actors, but the guiding force is director/co-writer David Wain (“Wet Hot American Summer”), who brings along his buddies from the sketch-comedy series “The State.”
Paul Rudd stars as Danny, who tours schools with Wheeler (Seann William Scott), urging kids to drink Minotaur, an energy drink, instead of doing drugs. Danny and Wheeler are barely friends, but as the genre requires, have a bromance going. Suffering an early midlife crisis, Danny impulsively proposes to his live-in girlfriend Beth (Elizabeth Banks), who breaks up with him instead. Acting out leads to a run-in with the law, and the guys are given 150 hours of community service at Sturdy Wings, a Big Brother-style organization, in lieu of 30 days in jail.
“Bigs” are paired with “littles” at Sturdy Wings, and our heroes are given tough cases. Wheeler draws Ronnie (Bobb’e J. Thompson), a fifth-grader with a vocabulary that would make a Tourette’s sufferer blush. Danny gets a relatively big little: Augie (Christopher Mintz-Plasse, aka McLovin), who only comes out of his shell for a medieval role-playing game.
No, it doesn’t sound like much. The plot won’t give you any surprises, and the dirty talk isn’t as creative as in “Zack and Miri Make a Porno.” But “Role Models” gets its points across without going overboard on sentiment, and it will make you laugh. 2.5 STARS—Steve Warren