Role Models
After seeing Seann William Scott literally eat shit in American Wedding, I’ve always been wary of any movie willing to place him in a leading role. Fortunately, Role Models avoids his inevitable overuse by placing him in a co-starring role with the strong complementary character Danny (Paul Rudd), who actually tackles most of the drama. This formula, along with a phenomenal cast of secondary characters, makes this easily one of the most enjoyable comedies I’ve seen this year.
Wheeler (Scott) and Danny (Rudd) are two friends/co-workers who visit elementary schools under the guise of preventative drug education, while at the same time pushing a questionable energy drink – “Minotaur. Taste the beast!” – to these same children. Under increasing pressure and decreasing morale, Danny has something of a bad day and lands the two in court. Once there, they are sentenced to 150 hours of community service in order to avoid jail time. But what community service might a degenerate sex-addict and a self-absorbed asshole possibly provide? Mentoring children, of course.
While much of the movie plays out predictably (If you’ve ever been to the movies before, you will likely guess 75% of the plot’s course in the first twenty minutes), most of the situations the characters find themselves in are fresh and fun (a camping trip involving far too much Lunesta and an engaged hottie, for one). Also, Role Models has one of most memorable and entertaining climaxes in recent memory, which goes down in a very unique and strangely heartwarming fashion. It does a great job of sewing together the events and people from the rest of the film, without feeling cheap or easy, which is a qualm I have with comedies all too often. It is far from ordinary, but it really works. And there was much rejoicing.
All of this is made possible by a fantastic cast of characters, not one of whom feels out of place or in any way dull. Everyone has their place in the story, and each one is played extremely well. Bobb’e J. Thompson is hilarious as Ronnie, the destructive bastard child, and Augie Farks (Christopher Mintz-Plasse) lets his “freak flag” fly for Xanthia, an imaginary country he roleplay-fights to protect. Augie and Danny, as mentioned, carry most of the dramatic weight of the movie, and yes, you will probably start to get invested in their strange relationship. They do a great job together, no matter how (intentionally) awkward. While their stories make the movie’s dialogue worth following, Wheeler and Ronnie are comic gold together. The combination of Wheeler’s incredibly weak morals and Ronnie’s adoration for boobies take them through some great situations, none of which should be spoiled here.
One of my favorite characters, though, was Gayle Sweeny, the head of the mentor organization, played by Jane Lynch. Most of what she says, while usually an attempt at intimidation, just comes out as ridiculous gibberish. “You can’t BS the BSer.” She insists, multiple times, before anyone has even really said anything to her. Every time she came on screen, I found myself pausing to make sure I heard what she was going to say. It’s unlikely that any other casting choice would have been able to pull off the character in quite the same way.
The movie’s pacing was also excellent, with the action being split fairly evenly between the two pairs of characters (Wheeler and Ronnie / Danny and Augie). At no point did it seem to drag, though as mentioned, there were a few moments of disappointing formulaicism (I know that’s not a word, but… screw it, you know what I mean.). A few times I found myself almost depressed that I was able to guess exactly how a segment would play out, but maybe that’s just because I’m so damn good. Either way, the film’s predictability in no way detracted from my immense enjoyment of it. It was funny as hell (or at the very least engaging and entertaining) throughout, and I will probably be returning to see it again soon. It’s probably not a movie your mother will enjoy (I don’t know of many mothers who would enjoy watching a 10 year old kid repeatedly tell everyone around him to fuck off), but if you like a sprinkle of dirty humor and immaturity (Notice: a sprinkle, this is no Superbad. Also: Mmmmm… sprinkles…) in your comedy, you can’t go wrong with Role Models. Go ahead, Taste the Beast.
