Role Models (Unrated)
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Movie Reviews of Role Models (Unrated)
Movie Review: Big Kids
Summary: 4 Stars
Like its two lead characters, ROLE MODELS is a movie that doesn't seem to be expecting too much of itself as it lures us into familiar man-child territory.
Seann William Scott and (co-writer) Paul Rudd are Wheeler and Danny, two low-achieving coworkers paid to travel to schools with an act that preaches against drugs while pushing powerful energy-drinks as the safe alternative. The difference between them? Wheeler loves his work and thinks of Danny as his friend. Danny hates his job, the fact that he should have done more with his life and can't commit to being more than a colleague to Wheeler. Danny's mean, sarcastic and rude to coffee shop baristas. Clearly he doesn't deserve a girlfriend like Beth (Elizabeth Banks), who rejects his spontaneous marriage proposal and dumps him instead. Danny's dejection leads to a tangle with the law and soon he and Wheeler are sent to perform 150 hours of community service at the local mentoring program, Sturdy Wings.
This is where the movie grows some wings of its own and really takes off. The flight path may be familiar, and there are no surprises when it comes to a predictably happy landing. But the journey becomes a lot of fun when Wheeler and Danny become "Bigs" to two very different "Littles," Ronnie (Bobb'e J. Thompson) and Augie (Christopher Mintz-Plasse).
It's clear that on paper at least, our two ROLE MODELS lack all the traditional skills required to teach anything to the kids. Fast-talking, foul-mouthed Ronnie is the product of broken home in need of a father figure, not a "booby" obsessed party lover like Wheeler. The costume-sewing fantasy game participant Augie shouldn't expect much sympathy from the snide Danny. Bad mentoring leads to chaos, confusion and near-tragedy. But somehow, everyone develops the sturdiness of wing to make it to the end having taught something to someone else--and discovered something essential about themselves.
Supporting characters add to the fun throughout, especially Jane Lynch as the ex-coke-addict who founded the Sturdy Wings program and the various costumed characters who take the game of "Laire" very seriously indeed.
ROLE MODELS is a movie that won't teach you much. But it will definitely make you laugh.
Movie Review: Much better than expected
Summary: 4 Stars
I didn't intend to go see this, but had a chance to go see it in the theatre for a couple bucks, so I couldn't pass it up. I was pleasantly surprised by this film. It was much better than what I had expected. What stood out the most about this film to me was the great casting and their performances. I love Sean William Scott, but have gotten tired of his typical type-cast roles. Although he played a role similar to most of his roles, this one as slacker Wheeler stood out a little bit. Paul Rudd is one of my favorite comedic actors right now. I love his dry attitude towards humor. He always brings plenty of laughs with his roles and he didn't dissappoint with his character Danny. Jane Lynch was definitely the X factor in the film. Her character was awkwardly and obsurdly hilarious (similarly to her character in 40 Year Old Virgin). Also with outstanding performances were the younger actors in the film, Bobb'e Thompson and Christopher Mintz-Plasse. Bobb'e Thompson's innappropriately foul-mouthed character, Ronnie, was truly hilarious to watch interact with Scott and Rudd. Mintz-Plasse's, Augie, was also very interesting to watch as his story had a bit more depth with his family issues and love of medeival battles. The final piece to the puzzle was Elizabeth Banks, playing Danny's boyfriend, Beth. She wasn't really central to the film, but her part was well played.
The concept of the movie is fairly simple. Two slacker guys (Scott and Rudd) get in trouble with the law, and are required to do community service to avoid jail time. Their sentence is to work with a Big Brother type organization headed by the zany Jane Lynch. They are assigned to two rather difficult young adults (Thompson and Mintz-Plasse). They must stick it out to avoid jail time and maybe learn a good life lesson along the way to get themselves out of the rutt that their lives have become. The film plays out well with a lot of laughs. Jane Lynch, Paul Rudd, and Bobb'e Thompson will keep you laughing throughout. This movie is definitely worth a watch.
Movie Review: Funny and oddly touching.
Summary: 4 Stars
Paul Rudd can carry anything; this is one of the Ten Commandments of contemporary comedy (I'm not sure what the other nine are; ask Rudd). In any other hands, "Role Models" would fail--it would be a raunch buddy-comedy with some kids thrown into the mix. As is, "Role Models" is the oddly touching tale of Wheeler and Danny, the former of whom is a party animal, the latter too cynical for his own good. One bad day, Danny proposes to his girlfriend (the ever-charming Elizabeth Banks), and she turns him down. Danny gets drunk, and crashes a truck that looks like a minotaur into a statue of a horse. His punishment: He and Wheeler are forced to work at Happy Wings, a sort of Big Brothers/Big Sisters organization. Danny is paired with a role-playing outcast; Wheeler with a foul-mouthed victim of a single-parent household. Together, these four very different individuals will form a unique, lasting bond that explores the depths of male relationships.
"Role Models" could easily have sank under the weight of its own good intentions. Instead, with Rudd added as star and writer, it soars. To the film's credit, there's talent elsewhere as well. Sean William Scott isn't anywhere near as annoying as he is in every other movie he's starred in; in fact, he's downright relateable at times, and absolutely hilarious. Christopher Mintz-Plasse (he of McLovin' fame) and Bobb'e J. Thompson are talented beyond their ages, and more than hold their own with the film's stars. Ken Marino and the afore-mentioned Banks are the standouts of the supporting cast, though the true scene-stealer is Jane Lynch as the psychotic director of Happy Wings.
Overall, "Role Models" is an engaging comedy with some genuine depth to it. Sure, there's a lot of crudity; but beneath it all is a true heart, and the film features some genuinely touching/funny moments. All-in-all, it's a buddy comedy that exceeds the expectations of its genre, and manages to stand on its own as one of the year's funnier films.
Movie Review: Pretty Decent Comedy
Summary: 4 Stars
It's difficult to make a comedy these days. The standards have truly been raised/lowered (depending on your opinion) by over-the-top folks like Sasha Baron Cohen and Will Ferrel. The genre has also received some maturity by those Kings of the latter 00's Comedies, Apatow and Co. They gave and continue to give comedies the over the top laughs a la Kevin Smith but with their own true heart that isn't the usual contrivance of most 90's comedies. Role Models is a warm film but is more likely to be a minor classic than anything. It has all the bare breasts, raunchy humor and drug use but it really delves into what it takes to be a role model to someone and the flaws in common mentoring. Jane Lynch's character is fantastic. Her deadpan comedy caught my attention in the 40 Year-Old Virgin (that song she suddenly sang in Spanish made me literally spit out my drink) and she is rather well showcased in this film. The only make or break point is... How much you really buy the whole LAIRE (Kind of a live action RPG for nerds) thing. If participation by the whole cast makes you giggle then this is the best comedy you've ever seen. If it makes you sad to see grown men wear medieval costume and play make believe, then the third act is really going to annoy you, although the denouement is done quite well. The two kids in need of mentoring aren't just two hyperboles of troubled youth. We all went to school with kids like them and this adds to the heart of the film. The extras in the DVD are really quite nice so don't miss them!Movie Review: MANY RAUNCHY LAUGHS FOR HALF THE FAMILY!
Summary: 4 Stars
Even if only half of the humorous bits of ROLE MODELS succeed for you, you will consider this is a very funny movie!
The premise is that, to avoid jail time, Paul Rudd and Seann William Scott (as Danny and Wheeler) perform community service as big brothers to a pair of troubled boys: a geeky adolescent (Christopher Mintz-Plasse) and a garbage-mouthed youth (Bobb'e J. Thompson). The pay-off scene is the wonderfully hilarious medieval role-playing game in which these four wear costumes deliberately like those of the band Kiss.
Jane Lynch is outstanding as the well-meaning but drug-damaged and very addled director of the organization pairing the children with their "bigs." By the end of the film almost all of the characters have grown and changed for the better (in ways that may not be believable but which are enjoyable nonetheless).
Chiefly because of the abundance of raunchy language, most parents would not want their small children to view this very funny film with them. (By the way, both the "theatrical" version and the "unrated" one are included on the DVD disk; both versions contain female nudity, and the chief difference is that the unrated version has about twice as much, plus a short instance of male nudity.)