Role Models proves unfunny trailers don’t necessarily come from unfunny movies. In hindsight, we really should have seen this coming. After all, Role Models is drawn not from some Hollywood assembly-line comedy director but from the very oddball comedic mind of David Wain (The Ten), the man behind out-there comedy Wet Hot American Summer. It’s depressing seeing Wain hold back to make something mainstream, but the film is funny enough that most viewers should be pleased.
The setup screams pitch meeting. Bitter cynic Danny (Paul Rudd, Forgetting Sarah Marshall) and his playboy buddy Wheeler (Seann William Scott, The Promotion) avoid jail time by doing community service … as mentors to children. It’s a credit to Wain that most of the humor comes from the children’s characters, rather than the fish-out-of-water status of their mentors.
The best performance emerges from Bobb’e J. Thompson, Ronnie (Columbus Day), a foul-mouthed 10-year-old who is introduced when drawing a picture of Beyoncé pouring sugar on his genitals. He thanks Wheeler for driving him somewhere with a “F— you, Miss Daisy!” and continually refers to Danny with variations of, “Let’s dance, Ben Affleck!” and other references to Affleck’s filmography (any movie that references Reindeer Games deserves some credit).
Similarly good is Christopher Mintz-Plasse (Superbad), doomed to forever be called “McLovin” by every college-age male in the nation, makes a triumphant return as socially awkward teen Augie Farks. Augie takes refuge in the live-action, role-playing game Lair, where he can pretend to be someone else. Even simple exchanges don’t flow smoothly with Augie, such as when Danny asks him, “Do you like Coke?” and Augie responds, “I like the idea of it more than I like it.”
In the larger cast, there’s a strange confluence of comedy vets packing the film. It’s almost as though Wain’s typical players (Rudd, Ken Marino and Joe Lo Truglio, who all appeared in The Ten and Wet Hot) met up with some of the Judd Apatow company (The 40 Year Old Virgin’s Elizabeth Banks and Knocked Up’s Ken Jeong) and sprinkled in some Reno: 911! Miami (Kerri Kenney).
The litany of the experienced comedy actors makes every role juicy. Lo Truglio, doing some strange, cheesy Russell Crowe impersonation as an overenthusiastic member of Lair, draws laughs in most of his scenes. And A Mighty Wind’s Jane Lynch plays to her reputation, but the hard-R dialogue and her casual delivery give it fresh zest. She quips at one point, “I don’t want to be graphic, but I used to suck his dick for drugs.”
The conventionality of the film means any attempts at emotion more or less fall flat. Danny’s relationship arc with Beth (Banks) is mostly telegraphed and formulaic, as is the maturing of Danny and Wheeler from their time with the kids.
A few comedy bits are doomed from the start, including a very clichéd Starbucks meltdown (“I want a large, not a venti!”) and some of the many jokes revolving around Lair. For the most part, though, Wain and Co. hit more than they miss.
Role Models really suffers more in comparison to Wain’s previous feature work than on its own. Wet Hot was an insane, edgy, weird cocktail of ridiculous humor, capped off with Law and Order: SVU’s Christopher Meloni as a short-order cook in love with a refrigerator (who finally decides to out himself on the advice of a can of soup). And even The Ten, which failed more than it succeeded, was zany enough to at least warrant some respect by taking chances.
Still, Wain and his army of scribes (including Rudd and Marino) have a solid film. Role Models will surprise many with its ample laughs. It’s just not anything original.
dan.benamor@gmail.com
RATING: 3.5 out of 5 stars
