[Movie Review] ROLE MODELS
I often use David Wain’s Wet Hot American Summer as a comedy-barometer with people. If ever I want to get a feel for a person’s sense of humour I show them that film because there’s no middle ground with it – you either hate it or you find it utterly hysterical; to ‘stick in’ with me you better fall into the latter category.
I’ve not seen any of Wain’s infamous cult show The State (its criminally ignored by ALL TV channels here in the UK to my knowledge) but Wet Hot American Summer made enough of an impact with me for anything he does now to go instantly on my radar.
And so Wain’s first mainstream studio comedy, Role Models, went on my must-see list the minute I found out he was attached – and this is regardless of the fact that Seann William Scott was co-starring in it, and I normally struggle quite a bit to ‘get’ what he is trying to do in many a movie. When you look at the cast list for this film you know that it cannot fail to be anything less than ‘good’.
Right?
I mean come on… Role Models has Paul Rudd (the best comedic ‘straight man’ working in the industry right now), Queen of the Ad-lib Jane Lynch, the insanely gorgeous and equally talented Elizabeth Banks, geek flavour-of-the-moment Christopher Mintz-Plasse, cult comedy figures Kerri Kenney-Silver and Ken Marino and Judd Apatow’s ‘secret weapon’ Ken Jeong – it cannot suck. It just can’t. Can it?
Role Models works and works well. It could have settled for throw-away comedy. It could have been a safe little comedy. It aimed higher and hit its target – it’s a hysterical good time. The script, the heavy ad-libbing, the talented cast are all so assured that Seann William Scott ups his game as a result and completely changed my perception of him.
You need to look at what the film is working with to understand just how successful it is – the potentially mawkish plot, the L.A.I.R (medieval role-playing) themed subplots, the conventions that it is all but forced to adhere to – because it takes these elements that would be obstacles in many a comedy and makes them feel not just real but completely fresh. In anyone elses hands but David Wain and his cast, the climax would be pretty friggin’ unbearable. Yet not only does it prove just as entertaining as the rest of the film, but Role Models can pride itself on not having a weak gag in its whole running time.
The plot follows Danny (Paul Rudd) and Wheeler (Seann William Scott), two salesmen who trash a company truck on an energy drink-fueled bender. Upon their arrest, the court gives them a choice: do hard time or spend 150 hours with a mentor program for children seeking father-figures. After one day with the kids, however, jail doesn’t look half bad. Within days of starting their community service the centre’s ex-con director (Jane Lynch) gives them an ultimatum regarding their behaviour and Danny and Wheeler are forced to tailor their brand of immature wisdom to fit their charges, Augie (Christopher Mintz-Plasse) a socially-inept role-playing obsessed loner and Ronnie (Bobb’e J. Thompson) a tit-obsessed, penis-doodling, foul-mouthed miscreant who takes pride in getting through as many ‘mentors’ as he possibly can.
I want to take a moment to draw attention to a man fast becoming a MUST SEE ‘comedy god’ and, if not that, then most certainly The King of DVD Special Features. I’m talking about Ken Jeong. You’ll probably know him best as the doctor in Knocked Up or the lead assassin in Pineapple Express. He’s fast becoming the scene-stealer of choice and it’s frustrating that Jack Black ‘broke’ into mainstream leading-man roles having done a lot less then what Jeong is doing but still mainstream leading man success alludes him. This guy has nailed small roles in top comedy TV like The Office: An American Workplace, Entourage, Curb Your Enthusiasm and, erm, Two And A Half Men. He’s walked away with films like Knocked Up, Pineapple Express and Step-Brothers despite having barely any screen time in any of them. And, fans of DVD Special Features on most Apatow productions will recognise him as the absolute highlight in all of them (check out his ‘unleashed’ ad-libbing on the Knocked Up DVD to discover some of the funniest unused material you will ever lay your eyes on).
In Role Models, Jeong has his biggest role but also the least to do comedically. He’s the token ‘villain’ for the role-playing subplot and yet Jeong shows that he can steal laughs with just a glance or a reaction. What’s most commendable about him though is that he makes it all seem so effortless! If I was casting agents I’d be looking at what Jeong can do with very little, give serious consideration to just what he could do if given a larger platform and then set him loose. A buddy comedy with Jeong and Craig Robinson could quite possibly turn out to be the funniest movie ever made. I shit you not!
And when smaller support like Jeong is as stellar here as what he is, you can only imagine just how on-fire the main cast are. It does concern me though as to whether Christopher Mintz-Plasse has a ‘sell-by-date’ in terms of this McLovin-type schtick, which is looking old already. However, I have a friend working down in London who did a half-a-days stint on the set of Matthew Vaughn’s Kick-Ass and he assures me that Mintz-Plasse is going to blow the McLovin stereotype to shreds with that film. I hope so. He and Michael Cera are extremely funny, natural peformers but they need to vary their ‘type’ very quickly for me.
Relative newcomer, Bobb’e J. Thompson, is playing a character that could get very stale very fast but he doesn’t. The whole foul-mouthed child thing is ALWAYS comedy gold to me [Seriously, as wrong as it is, hearing an infant use bad language just gets me chuckling every time!] but Wain is clever enough to never oversell it, keep it on the right side of outrageous and develop a good, realistic arc for Thompson’s character.
Paul Rudd and Elizabeth Banks deserve highlighting though; their chemistry together is natural and easy – a real pleasure to watch. Rudd is such a funny and engaging performer that he’s fast becoming a joy to watch in everything he does. He can sell absolute stupidity as real (which is a huge benefit when you’re dressed as a member of Kiss, swinging a foam broad-sword), he can completely drop your jaw when required to be serious (as in when standing up for Augie to his parents) and he can take the tooth-achingly sugary bits out of twee nonsense that would otherwise kill a movie (his singing finale).
Role Models is a little rushed and cluttered in its final act in which all various plots, characters etc. converge as one a little too tidily for my liking, and the denouement is a little too pat and convenient (although still very funny thanks to Jane Lynch’s line delivery). All of which keep it from being considered a full-blown comedic masterpiece. BUT that just leaves it to be seen as a very recommendable, excellent night out at the flicks.
It’s a consistently hilarious, foul-mouthed gem and a great start for the comedy genre in 2009 here in the UK!
3 Responses to “[Movie Review] ROLE MODELS”
It’s an obvious movie, but a funny nonetheless.
That it finds fresh material in obvious areas is what impressed me the most!
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