Starring: Seann William Scott, Paul Rudd, Christopher Mintz-Plasse, Bobb'e J. Thompson, Elizabeth Banks, Jane Lynch, Joe Lo Truglio, Ken Jeong

Directed by: David Wain

MGM Pictures

The Official Site of Role Models

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Danny (Paul Rudd) is having a bad day. His girlfriend is sick of his bad attitude almost as much as he’s sick of his dead end job pushing toxic energy drinks on unsuspecting children. It doesn’t help that he spends all day with Wheeler (Sean William Scott who gives us his most memorable character since Stifler from American Pie), the kind of sleazy ladies man that likes to abuse prescription medication and wake up naked in the woods.

After Danny lets one of those bad days get the better of him, the two find themselves with 150 hours of community service as a result of an unfortunate but hilarious string of broken laws. They’re sent to serve out their hours at Sturdy Wings, an organization that matches adults with children to better enrich the lives of the young people in the community.

It sounds like a movie we’ve seen before, and it would be if it weren’t for the hard R approach to the humor and brilliant idea to embrace the unembraceable. There's no logical explanation why a movie that features LARPing (Live Action Role Playing) as much as this could work as well as it does. You kind of expect it to be just a momentary thing. An oddity of society for the characters to take shots at before moving on to the next big target, but role-playing becomes a major set piece for all the characters to interact in. I never would have guessed that the entire third act revolves around it.

I'm, not necessarily complaining because it totally works. Complaining about that would be like complaining that the movie mentions KISS too often or that a grown man's attempt to explain the lyrics to “Love Gun� to a 10-year-old is a wasted effort. (The gun is Paul Stanley's Penis) Point being - Role Models is able to take some unconventional themes and go way beyond the obvious jokes. It’s part of what makes the movie as strong as it is.

Rudd’s wicked put downs and Scott’s ability to make a dirt bag have a heart of gold certainly keep this movie on track, but they’d be nothing without those impressionable young minds ready to mold. Danny is matched up with Augie (Christopher Mintz-Plasse) a cape-wearing, sword-wielding warrior in the army of Zanthia. Needless to say, Augie feels more comfortable in the magical land of make believe or role-playing magical battles with his friends than he does interacting with the normies in the real world.

Wheeler is matched up with the Ronnie (Bobb'e J. Thompson), the programs notorious bad boy who lives up to his reputation by slapping, cussing, stealing cars… the usual. Thompson is instantly and infectiously likeable despite his aggressiveness. His comic sensibilities are light years beyond anything you’d expect from someone his age. This kid is so much more than the initial shock that comes with seeing someone that young dropping the F-bomb.

Going in I was already a huge fan of Role Models’ director, David Wain (Stella, Wet Hot American Summer). Role Models is by far his most accessible work as it's the one most grounded in reality. Keep in mind, the film features Sean William Scott dressing up like a Minotaur and pissing green sludge so it’s not too much of a departure from the secret handshakes and fake mustaches we’ve seen from Wain in the past. Still, compared to Wain’s anything-can-happen-at-any-second style of comedy that I've always adored, it's refreshing to see that he can play it straight and still get laughs. Longevity in the business is based on success and to be successful you have to play the game and make an accessible family film every now and then. He found a way to make one that just happened to be good as well.

Of course “family friendly� may be the wrong choice of words. The messages of friendship and of accepting your children for who they are certainly speak to everyone in the family, but Wheeler’s fulfillment of a grade school teacher fantasy and every third word out of Bobb'e J. Thompson’s mouth aren’t safe for anyone those messages would do the most good for. I guess us crank old adults will have to have all the fun waiting for those jackasses to grow up.

Rating: 8 out of 10 - A couple real heroes not mentioned in the review are Jane Lynch and Elizabeth Banks. Lynch has been a huge sense of dry and awkward wit that I’ve always appreciated, but in my opinion I’ve never seen her this strong. As a former addict and the overseer at Sturdy Wings she harasses the two leads with a special blend of unwarranted happiness and sexual tension. It’s hard to explain but she’s bringing something original to the screen every time she pops up.

We're being spoiled but the amount of screen time Elizabeth Banks is getting these days. For three weeks in a row we've had three great performances from her and I wish it could continue through the rest of the year. (We'll have to wait until the end of January to see her as the wicked stepmother in The Uninvited, which from the trailers looks to be a mash-up of What Lies Beneath and The Messengers.)

These two ground this film as much as any of dependable leads and it wouldn’t be half the movie it is without them.

Absolutely. Role Models took a sweet message with a filthy presentation and went right to the top of the list of must own DVDs of 2008. It’s not the best movie of the year, but it makes several cases for the best comedy of the year. And it taught me something at the same time so… that’s awesome.

I did this comic last week before seeing the movie and after watching it through I really wished they’d spent more time focusing on Ronnie’s obsession with breasts. At least as much as the marketing implied. I mean, they made a comic, they even mad a match game that revolved around Ronnie’s booby watching. In the film, he definitely loves boobs, but not enough to warrant a comic about it. I hope you guys like it regardless.

While searching the web for Role Models related goodies, I was most impressed by the extensive fake site they created for the children’s care facility in the film Sturdy Wings. The site is packed with clips from the film as well as extra material shot especially for the web. All of it with the same twisted perspective of sweetness that makes the movie work so well. Check out one of the examples from the results page where kids talk about their experiences at Sturdy Wings:

“When I was in a free fall, Gayle swooped in. When I had nowhere to funnel my rage, Gayle put on the gloves and went to the mat. And when I didn’t bother showing up to high school, bitch hunted me down like a jungle cat.�

I’m keeping it short and sweet tonight as I had a lot of trouble finding the words for today’s review. Sometimes, when a movie is good enough, you just can’t stop talking about it or you can’t find the best words to express how you feel about it. Other times it’s Madagascar 2. Hopefully that review will go a lot smoother.

To hear me and the fellas talk a little more about all these movies as well as JCVD, Synecdoche, New York and Soul Men, tune in tonight to The Triple Feature. Lots of great movies so it should be a good show. Thanks for listening.