Role Models

2008 has been a good year for comedies in my mind. Typically I only enjoy 3 or 4 in any given year. Yet this year there are at least 14 comedies that have receive at least a B- from me and a few of those are even true comic gems. As the year comes to a close, the movies tend to get more dramatic or more family oriented, so I feel like this, with Soul men, was the last shot to add to the list of good comedies. I tend to stay away from movies written and directed by David Wain because the entire Stella thing lacks any sort of, well, laughs. Then they went and let Paul Rudd re-write the script and I was interested. I enjoy the cast and it looked pretty funny, even if a bit of an Apatow wanna-be. Not that that is a bad thing, honestly.

Danny(Rudd) is a miserable human being. he is out to pick fights with everyone for the tiniest thing and one day he just cannot handle it anymore and his verbal vitriol embarrasses his girlfriend, Beth(Elizabeth Banks) and she ends it with him. Having a really bad day on top of having a miserable job, Danny loses it. At a high school, where he and his partner, Wheeler(Sean William Scott) are trying to tell kids to drink an energy drink instead of doing drugs, Danny tries to drive off in the monster truck and ends up damaging school property. Instead of jail, Danny and Wheeler are sentenced to 150hrs of community service at Sturdy Wings, a day camp for children. Danny is assigned Augie(Christopher Mintz-Plasse) and Wheeler is assigned Robbie(Bobbe J' Thompson). Augie is an ubernerd who practices LARPing- Live Action Role Playing. He has a whole universe in which he is not a nerd, but a valued member of a society. Danny hates it, but Augie is a sweet kid and Danny starts to try and befriend him. Wheeler and Robbie have an easier time together because they bond over breasts. Robbie is a truly foul mouthed little kid, but he has a good spirit and his mother is sweet. Wheeler and Danny are learning the values of not being so selfish and building relationships.

The opening 25 minutes of Role Models feature some seriously great verbal exchanges and the finale is a beautiful showing of physical comedy and in the middle are spattered a variety of funny lines, lines that don't work, hot girls and the most sexual innuendo jokes since Arrested Developmentwent off the air. Paul Rudd seems to revel in playing these kind of depressed directionless guys and he nails it here. He and William Scott have a great chemistry and the relationship between Rudd and mcLovin is perfect. In fact, Christopher Mintz-Plasse plays Augie with such conviction it is hard to laugh at him for being a dork because he really is a sweet kid. He is only occasionally made the butt of the joke, which is nice because dorks are usually picked on in these movies. For his part, Sean William Scott probably gives his most likable performance since American Pie. I hope we are about to experience a Sean William Scott revolution because I have always liked him. He is charming and has an easy likability. they are all outdone by Bobbe J' Thompson. Thompson is a young and talented kid with crazy verbal skills and he swears like a young Chris Rock. He is unbelievably funny and fast and vulgar but never mean spirited.

Another person worth mentioning is Jane Lynch. This woman is a very sturdy comedic supporting actress. She killed it as the boss in The 40 year old virgin and in this movie she gets a lot of great laughs. She doesn't always hit, but she recovers so quickly you forget the bad jokes. Elizabeth Banks is solid as usual. She continues to do interesting roles that are diverse enough that will not allow her to be pigeon-holed as an actress. There are a few supporting players from various Judd Apatow produced movies that get their laughs within the world of Augie's real life role playing, but the main foursome don't allow the movie to be stolen from them. Speaking of the Live Action Role Playing, the climax of this movie is a complex, hilarious and actually touching battle royale sequence that sees Augie finding his calling as a leader. He is a great battle cry, and a stirring speech and it is all played straight down the middle, which keeps the movie from being too silly. The actual battle is full of laughs and even a few thrills.

In the end, Role Models carries a nice message about responsibility, love, friendship and doing what you love. Augie is a nerd and so he believes he is a nerd, but the second he is a leader in a town of LARPers, he excels and everyone around him sees that he is a good, level headed kid. Role Models is vulgar, yes, but who says vulgar cannot lead to something sweet. The main characters learn and teach and in the end, everyone truly is a winner. Where is the crime in that?

Final Grade: B+