A crude comedy with sentiments about helping kids may seem uncomfortably inappropriate, but in “Role Models,” something so wrong went right.
As far as raunchy comedies go, “Role Models” was off to a solid start when Wheeler (Seann William Scott) was dropped off by a hot chick, shoved his finger under coworker Danny’s (Paul Rudd) nose and asked, “Guess what I did last night?”
Barely friends, this duo tours schools on a “say-no-to-drugs” campaign as spokesmen for Minotaur energy drinks, while ironically marketing the unhealthy alternative.
“Role Models” follows these two coworkers who are anything but model citizens.
Wheeler is party guy who’s too stupid to understand that his dead-end job sucks. Danny is miserable, uptight and unapologetically takes his anger out on baristas.
After a pathetic and desperate proposal to his girlfriend, Danny was dumped, drank a little too much Minotaur and got himself and Wheeler into trouble with the law.
With the choice between jail or community service, they chose community service. Their sentence is this: serving 150 hours at Sturdy Wings, a mentor program for children.
Like most films in the genre, “Role Models” has the expected vulgar language and, of course, boobies, but where’s the shock value in that these days? We’re immune, so give us a potty-mouthed little kid who draws perverse pictures, and we’ll gasp, “Oh, my God!”
Don’t get me wrong; this is my kind of humor. Intellectual humor is pretty much nonexistent in contemporary comedy, anyway. But that’s no issue. Crude humor can still be quality humor. Case proven by the nonstop laughs delivered by Danny and Wheeler.
As amusing as they are, however, they couldn’t have carried the movie without young actors Bobb’e J. Thompson and Christopher Mintz-Plasse.
The movie really kicks off when Danny and Wheeler are introduced to their “Littles” at Sturdy Wings. At this point, things are already bad. However, this is where things get really bad. And by really bad, I mean really good.
Wheeler was paired with 10-year-old potty-mouthed Ronnie (Thompson), who within seconds shouted false accusations of molestation among a string of curses. Meanwhile, Danny was paired with Augie Farks (Mintz-Plasse), an awkward teenage outcast consumed by the fantasy realm of medieval roleplay.
All Danny and Wheeler wanted to do was complete their hours without screwing up and ending up in jail. It wasn’t exactly super happy fun time for the kids either as they were forced into Sturdy Wings by their parents, which made 150 hours seem impossible. After one day with Ronnie and Augie, jail began to look like the soft option.
Although vulgarities and sexual innuendo galore are quite hilarious, that’s not what carried this film. The real quality came from the interaction between Augie and Ronnie with their “Bigs” Danny and Wheeler.
Through boob watching lessons Ö la Wheeler given to Ronnie, and Danny’s participation in medieval roleplay with Augie, what began as a reluctant partnership and a rush to get 150 hours complete, unfolds into true friendship. Language aside, the movie is quite touching.
Entertaining characters played by solid actors kept this movie fast-paced and exciting.
Scott gets top billing playing, once again, a variation of Stiffler from “American Pie.” Wheeler is the same young, dopey and horny character we’ve seen throughout Scott’s filmography. When done right, however, the character is hilarious. Scott pulled it off.
His juvenile humor paired with Rudd’s deadpan sarcasm created quite the humorous duo. Both were immature and selfish, but, in their own hilarious way, were a nice offset to each other.
Scott and Rudd wisely let the kids shine as well. Mintz-Plasse makes a convincingly awkward nerd, and while you may be disturbed to hear such language come from Thompson’s mouth, the character will equally charm you.
The movie’s low points were few. Danny’s tacky love song to win back his girlfriend should have been omitted, and the KISS cosplay wasn’t working for me since only two of the four connected through the band. Although it’s amusing, KISS cosplay would be more appropriate if Danny and Wheeler were mentoring the stoner teens from Detroit Rock City.
The most frustrating aspect about “Role Models” is, despite a heartwarming message about adults bonding with kids and becoming better people, the gratuitous vulgarities and nudity; it’s inappropriate for kids. It’s a good film, but, unfortunately, it has a limited audience.