MOVIE REVIEW: 'Role Models'

From the Friday, Nov. 7 Oregonian....

The surprisingly funny "Role Models" does three things extremely well. It gives killer roles to comic actors frequently stuck in ensembles. It directs hilariously harsh words at children and lets the children direct even harsher words back at the adults. And it's oddly determined to give a fair shake to fans of both medieval role-playing and the band KISS.

Director/co-writer David Wain ("Stella," "The State," "Wet Hot American Summer") tells the timeless story of two losers mentoring two younger losers. Thirtysomething underachievers Danny (Paul Rudd) and Wheeler (Seann William Scott) put on anti-drug seminars at schools -- a thin ruse to get kids hooked on a horrifying green energy drink called "Minotaur."

Then Danny, just dumped by his lawyer girlfriend (Elizabeth Banks), loses it in an epic meltdown that lands him and Wheeler 150 hours of community service mentoring troubled young boys through a sketchy program called "Sturdy Wings," run by a recovering cokehead (Jane Lynch) prone to getting lost in her nonsensical grandstanding lectures.

Danny is assigned to an unloved nerd ("Superbad"'s McLovin, Christopher Mintz-Plasse) lost in a world of sword-and-sorcery LARPers. Wheeler is assigned to Ronnie (Bobb'e J. Thompson) -- possibly the most foul-mouthed child to appear in a mainstream Hollywood comedy since Eric Cartman cussed a blue streak in "South Park: Bigger, Longer and Uncut."

Spoiler alert: Each loveable loser learns something about himself. But Wain proved he could monkey with tired comedy formulas in "Wet Hot American Summer" -- and he's got a terrific cast finding the funny in a pretty strong script. (There's a slight lull here and there before the jokes-to-laugh ratio starts really spiking, but this feels like a minor complaint.)

Scott and Rudd have done their most successful work as the Party-Hearty Meathead and the Sardonic Good-Looking Guy, often in supporting roles; they're front-and-center here, playing well-written, deadpan variations on their go-to personas. (Rudd co-wrote, and scripts to his sarcastic strengths.) Lynch, probably best-known for her tiny role as Steve Carell's singing, pervy boss in "The 40-Year-Old Virgin," is unleashed here as a cocky train wreck. And Mintz-Plasse might just cement his place in geek iconography with this; he once again gets an awkward but real character to play, not just a pair of taped glasses.

I feel compelled to warn my family-newspaper readers (who reportedly left angry phone messages with my editor after last week's comic strip): Much of "Role Models"' absurd humor involves salty double entendres and the verbal abuse and misdirection of young people. Danny and Wheeler are truly horrible mentors who love to shut down smart-mouthed kids with R-rated insults and threats of violence. But the movie also exhibits a surprising -- and surprisingly charming -- sympathy for its characters' dorky obsessions. (Tonally, this sort of reminded me of the barely seen and really funny "Sasquatch Gang.")

And if nothing else, "Role Models" will probably be remembered as the film that finally pitted a medieval-roleplay army against the KISS Army. If that doesn't get you in the theater, I can't help you.
_____

B; 99 minutes; rated R for crude and sexual content, strong language and nudity.

'Role Models' (The Oregonian, Friday, Nov. 7, 2008)

Comments

[Linda]

This film was such a fun ride. Thanks for the review here and on Cort and Fatboy.