Role Models: Review By T.Clark

Role Models is certainly nothing original. It's a crude, R-rated comedy about 2 "friends" who get into trouble, therefore having to do something they don't want to do, but learning a few lessons along the way, and in the end, everyone lives happily ever after. However, certain aspects separate this latest Paul Rudd comedy from the rest of the crowd.

The movie's plot is pretty straightforward: Danny(Rudd) and Wheeler(Sean William Scott) are two sport drink representatives who are committed to either 30 days of jail or 150 hours of community service. Going with the community service for the obvious reasons, the two find themselves "mentoring" "Littles" in a Big Brother-type program. What ensues is probably one of the funniest, if not the funniest, films of the year.

Like I said, this movie isn't original, but what separates it from the rest is its creativity in making something unoriginal actually work and stay funny throughout its entire 95-minute run-time. The introduction of "L.A.I.R," an online fantasy game that die-hard fans re-enact in real life, is responsible for most of that. The writing team, made up of both Rudd and David Wain, who also directs the movie, do a great job of not being too offensive to the role-playing nerd life, and actually seem to be, while not encouraging it, defending it, setting up a situation that makes some of it understandable.

However, it also does a great job of pointing out the ridiculousness of people's fascination with dressing up as fictional Lord of the Rings-style warriors and having pretend "battles" with plastic swords. The extremists of the hobby(I guess that's what it is) would most certainly feel offended at certain points of the film, but for the most part, even the most extreme extremist role-player would find him/herself laughing.

The other aspect of the movie that sets it apart and undoubtedly makes it, again, one of the funniest movies of the year, are the unforgettable characters. Each actor is right at home with their roles, and it makes the movie better. Scott moves back into his comfort zone of "American Pie"-like humor after such bombs as "Mr. Woodc*ck," and delivers a performance not seen from him since possibly his American Pie days as the equally jerkish Stiffler. Rudd, famed for his appearances in Judd Apatow comedies like "40 Year Old Virgin" and "Forgetting Sarah Marshall," plays a guy who's annoyed easily and annoys others perfectly, and as the movie progresses, so does his performance.

As for the kids, Christopher Mintz-Plasse(a.k.a. "McLovin') plays Auggie, a role-playing nerd who Danny has to look after. While I haven't seen "Superbad," his performance in that would have to be really something special to outdo his in this movie. Bobb'e J. Thompson plays Ronnie, a black kid who Wheeler is assigned to after everyone else has quit due to the child's foul-mouthed and profane behavior...which is exactly why Wheeler gets along with him after a short time. Rounding out the cast are supporting actors such as Elizabeth Banks as Danny's girlfriend Beth and Jane Lynch as Gayle Sweeny, the founder of the mentoring program. What makes all these characters work, and last, is their interactions with each other and the fact that no one performance outshines the other. All of them deliver equally, unlike other comedies like "Tropic Thunder," where some characters made more of a lasting appeal than others.

In the end, Role Models manages to take a not-so-original idea and create something more out of it that actually leaves a lasting impact. Despite it's persuasive crudeness, the movie leaves you liking every character. It also leaves you a sense of compassion, which is hard to do in this day and age of R-rated comedic efforts. People clapped in the theater at the triumph of Auggie and the continuous foul lines of Ronnie. It's definitely a film worth seeing...if your above the age of 12, that is.