Role Models

These movie reviews are getting more and more sparse on the blog and for that I apologize. I had to use dinner out as an excuse to see this flick with my wife. When you go from 2 or 3 movies a week to only 1 or none you start to get a bit desperate. You find yourself capable of eating something as unpleasant as Ethiopian food or my wife's favorite Thai food. I breathed a sigh of relief when she agreed that Applebees would be sufficient, this time.So now to the film Role Models. I really enjoy Paul Rudd, pretty much everything he's been in lately has been really funny. He's got a very natural acting style that's just a pleasure to watch. That seems to apply to this movie as well. Danny (Paul Rudd) and Wheeler (Seann William Scott) work at the Minotaur Energy Drink Company. Danny is the salesman and a sarcastic beacon of negativity. While Wheeler is a free spirited numb nuts who doesn't appear smart enough to sell but just dumb enough to be the Minotaur mascot. The two of them tour schools in their Minotaur Mobile hocking their product until one day Danny loses it and gets a driving violation. The two are given a choice a few months in the clink or community service. This is where they are forced to mentor a child from a Big Brother like organization. Danny gets the nerdy kid Auggie (Christopher "McLovin" Mintz-Plasse), who lives in his own world playing a version of D&D. Wheeler gets placed with a foul mouthed little troublemaker named Ronnie (Bobb'e J. Thompson). Of course no movie would be complete without a romantic angle. Although I think in this case Elizabeth Banks, who plays Danny's girlfriend Beth, is totally underused. She's got good comic timing and is always enjoyable to watch on-screen.This was a fun little film with a little more heart and a little less Dick and Fart jokes. But don't worry it's still very raunchy, my wife said that she wished they had toned down some of the language. I personally thought it was great that we are watching movies that aren't afraid to have kids curse. We were getting a little too PC in the late 90's because we seemed to forget that kids, when adults aren't around, curse like sailors. Little Ronnie is by far the gem of the film laying out the tough guy routine with some wonderful swearing. While Auggie is endearing as he channels the awkward times of a lonely teenager looking for acceptance. Overall the flick was hilarious and raunchy and charming, see if you can deal with those contradictions.

Grade: 4 Buckets