Role Models (2008)

Story: After a particularly bad day, Danny (Paul Rudd) crashes his work truck into a school's statue where he has been hawking an energy drink as an alternative to drugs. Beth (Elizabeth Banks) helps Danny and Wheeler (Sean William Scott) plea bargin their way into 150 hours of community service, and they are assigned to Sturdy Wings, a Big Brothers-type after school program run by a recovering drug addict (Jane Lynch). Wheeler gets Ronnie (Bobb'e J. Thompson); Danny gets Augie (Christopher Mintz-Plasse).

Listen, this movie is totally funny. Possibly even funnier than it has any right to be. I know that it looks kind of dumb and probably not funny, but those looks are deceiving. Sure, you might have wondering things like, "Doesn't Scott play the same role in every movie? Isn't Ronnie pretty one note? Is Mintz-Plasse a legitimate actor now?" Or you might be wondering, "How do I get Paul Rudd to marry me?" Fortunately, I have answers to three of those questions.

1) Doesn't Scott play the same role in every movie? Yeah, but that's not as important here. For one, you probably realized you should avoid that slightly glassy, mostly happy stoner dude sometime in 2000, so you're probably not as oversaturated with the trope as some would be. For two, it works here. He plays naturally enough that even though he may not like him all the time, you certainly feel like you know the guy. It ends up working in his favour more often than not.

2) Doesn't Ronnie look pretty one note? Um, yes. In fact, for a good chunk of the movie, he is pretty one note. A child of a single mom that acts out? Fancy that. The shock value of a child with his vocabulary gets old pretty quickly, but there's enough real need and realistic trashiness that you're on his side when he yells, "Fuck his shit up!"

3) Is Mintz-Plasse a legitimate actor now? Sure is! You might of thought he would cost on McLovin' for forever (and who would blame him if he did?), but he's got the chops. There's real, hard to ignore vulnerability behind his every action, making it virtually impossible not to root for him.

4) How do I get Paul Rudd to marry me? Wish I knew! Oh, Paul Rudd, what would we ever do without you? What would co-writer and director David Wain without you? You co-wrote the screenplay, and you still make the best lines sound like fresh improvs (maybe they were? Wain is into the sketch comedy, after all). You've got a winning way with a one-liner, dramatic chops, and movie-start good looks. Truly, that you are not a more popular leading man remains a mystery.

The movie's not perfect: it's far too conventional, Lynch's character's past is milked for all its worth (not that much, although she remains wonderfully off), and Paul Rudd doesn't dance nearly enough. Still, it's funny. Wain's got enough chops to make you think that he's capable of worthwhile comedy even within the confines of the studio system. That's enough for now. B