Comedy in our post-Sept. 11 world has an increased fascination with the man-child, who is physically adult, but mentally a young male. The man-child never wants to grow up and deal with the real world. In writer/director David Wain's new comedy, "Role Models," Paul Rudd and Seann William Scott, two actors not unfamiliar with playing this Peter Pan-esque archetype, do nothing to help the man-child grow up but they take him to a new level.
Rudd and Scott play Danny and Wheeler, respectively, spokesmen for the energy drink Minotaur, an atomic-green liquid that Danny and Wheeler push to kids while preaching an anti-drug message. Danny does the talking while Wheeler is his hype man in a huge, furry Minotaur costume. While the job is perfect for Wheeler, allowing him to be hung-over at work, it drives Danny to his breaking point, making him irritable and depressed.
Things come to a head when Danny's girlfriend Beth (played by Elizabeth Banks) breaks up with him and then the energy-drink duo crashes the company truck, causing massive property damage. The pair is faced with a choice: 30 days in jail or 150 hours of community service at a "Big Brothers Big Sisters"-type organization run by the uncomfortably hilarious Jane Lynch.
Danny is paired with Augie (Christopher Mintz-Plasse), an awkward teen who wears a cape and participates in Live-Action Role-Playing Experience, or LARE, while Wheeler gets Ronnie (Bobb'e J. Thompson), a rambunctious, foul-mouthed ten-year-old. Faced with the prospect of having to mentor kids, the Minotaur-hawking man-children find that they have to grow up to avoid going to jail.
At first glance, the film seems as though it should be another forgettable, immature joke-fest, but with Wain at the helm, "Role Models" is so much more. His subversive and off-beat humor truly shine through, an example being when he even manages to translate Danny's story about child sex trafficking into a guilt-free laugh.
Everyone in this film is typecast: Rudd plays a neurotic grump, Scott is an immature, misogynistic party animal, Mintz-Plasse essentially reprises his role as Fogell from "Superbad" (2007) and Banks is the reasonable and mature adult. Fortunately, all of these actors excel in their respective pigeonholes. Each film that Rudd appears in further cements him as one of the best actors currently working, "Role Models" included, and Scott, though still playing a Steve Stiffler-like character, proves again that his impeccable comic timing and charisma make him the go-to-guy for such roles. The big discovery, however, is Thompson; for some reason, hearing a 10-year old curse and slap an adult never gets old, and his timing rivals that of any of the film's more seasoned actors.
The plot is fairly predictable, but the actors bring their expertise and Wain brings the absurdity, and everything stews into a pitch-perfect comedy. The requisite romantic subplot involving Danny and Beth feels a little tacked on at first, but it is crucial for the ending, which involves the single most inspired, funniest use of a Kiss song ever.
Kiss, Wheeler's favorite band, becomes a running theme in "Role Models." The fundamental differences between Danny and Wheeler become clear when Danny suggests that the lyrics to Kiss' most famous song "Rock 'n' Roll All Night" should be "rock 'n' roll all night/ And part of every day," rather than "And party every day." Later, Wheeler is able to connect with Ronnie through the power of the song "Love Gun," when he graphically explains the song's metaphor to his 10-year-old mentee. The band also plays a major part in the finale, a LARE battle that is comedy's answer to "Braveheart" (1995).
There is no downtime from the laughs in "Role Models." Each scene is full of throwaway lines that are as funny as anything produced by Hollywood in recent memory, and the set-pieces, such as the scenic camping trip gone awry and the grand finale battle, will evoke laughter from any audience.
There is no doubt that these actors enjoyed themselves while making this movie. Though the creative force that is Judd Apatow had no hand in this film, it has a decidedly Apatowian quality to it that goes deeper than simply the inclusion of the previously mentioned man-child; this is biting comedy with a big heart on its sleeve.
"Role Models" never claims to be more than it is, and it certainly doesn't take itself too seriously. It is a movie that knows its place and fills it perfectly. Hollywood should take note: Maybe after a few more like this, comedy fans won't have to suffer any more films in the vein of "Scary Movie" (2000) sequels and knockoffs. "Role Models" sets a great example, reminding everyone just how funny a comedy can be.
