Role Models (Movie Review)

Movie Review
Role Models
Starring: Paul Rudd, Seann William Scott, Elizabeth Banks
Directed By: David Wain
Runtime: 1:40

If there is one thing we need in this world, its more sarcastic crass comedies. Thankfully (and sarcastically) David Wain has given us Role Models. If you like your comedies with offensive humour that tries to coat it with a sweet facade, then this is your movie. If you like comedies where the punch line is actually well thought out and not just laced with profanity to illicit a reaction, this may not be the movie for you.

Danny (Paul Rudd) and Wheeler (Seann William Scott) are representatives for an energy drink company. They spend their days going from school to school promoting their product. Danny feels like he is in a rut and wants to do more with his life while Wheeler enjoys the lack of real responsibilities. As Danny becomes more misanthropic and apathetic about life, he begins to burn his bridges which causes his girlfriend Beth (Elizabeth Banks) to dump him after an impromptu marriage proposal. After getting wasted, Danny self-destructs at a school and winds up getting himself and Wheeler arrested.

For Danny and Wheeler to avoid jail, they must work for a Big-Brother type agency called Sturdy Wings. Once enlisted in the program, they’re given two of the hardest cases to come across the agency. Danny is partnered with Augie Farks (Christopher Mintz-Plasse, whom you may better recognize as McLovin). Augie secludes himself away from others except for his real-life RPG games that take place at a park every week; something Augie takes great pride in. Wheeler is given Ronnie Shields (Bobb’e J. Thompson) to look after. Ronnie has chased away every “big” that he has been set up with so far. On the rare occasion when Ronnie does not act unresponsive to his “big”, he attempts to get them in trouble or scare them away with such bizarre and erratic behaviour that some would think the kid would need an exorcism. Both Danny and Wheeler have trouble adapting to each child but realize that the only way to keep out of jail is to build a bond with each child, they start down a road filled with lots of zany adventures.

From the onset, you will most likely love this movie or hate it. It’s humour only works from some. Rudd plays the straight man while Scott plays the sidekick. However, Scott is given the most colourful dialogue as he is not shy about throwing profanity filled tirades about any subject or talk freely with kids about sexuality. This could work if this was the first movie of it’s kind or even the tenth. The problem is that too many comedies nowadays think that using profanity to replace jokes is actually funny. Other movies along these lines like Superbad and Forgetting Sarah Marshall either do a good job at providing social commentary and/or don’t rely on being extreme for all their laughs. Role Models is completely unoriginal. The jokes are uninspired an at times recycled within the movie. The act that gets Danny and Wheeler arrested is a funny joke in itself but it’s referenced in the film again and again to get more mileage out of the joke. Sadly, most of these jokes run out of gas.

The film does try to salvage itself by trying to show a sweet side with an intertwined storyline of Danny’s attempts to win back Beth’s love as well as Danny and Wheeler trying to prove themselves to the two kids. While it could have been worse, it could have been much better. The storylines won’t make anyone cringe with awkwardness but on the other hand, they feel too sappy to be written into a movie where an adult male is talking to a young boy about how to score a shot at looking and touching a woman’s chest. Everything feels out of context and almost makes one think that the entire script was written using a book of Mad Libs. Even the premise of an energy drink company sending reps to a schools doesn’t add up (although that may occur in the United States, it’s lost on this Canadian where many school boards don’t even serve French fries anymore due to health issues). It almost seems like the jokes were written before the script and the story of the movie was created just to fill in the gaps between punch lines.

This review may seem a bit negative towards Role Models but it is easy to make a movie where the story feels like it was an afterthought to the jokes. In fact, it’s sloppy. But a good amount of the jokes are funny and everyone puts in a strong effort. This film is more than just watchable; if you don’t mind senseless use of profanity, it’s pretty funny. It could have been much better and to give this film a glowing review would be praising mediocrity. It’s fun while it lasts but thankfully it doesn’t last too long.

☆☆