Thursday, February 11, 2010

"Role Models": Looking for McLovin in All the Wrong Places

I got around to watching the movie "Role Models". While it had some funny parts, I think it was the laziest comedy I've ever seen.
By lazy, I mean almost everything seemed to be recycled from previous comedy movies. I will always have a major man-crush on Paul Rudd, but he didn't do it for me in this movie. His character was flat & didn't really go through much change; it seemed kinda like a role they had orgiinally written for Ben Stiller, but he declined, so they gave it to Paul instead. Also, I really didn't give a shit about his relationship with Elizabeth Banks, cute as she may be. The story should've stuck to the relationships between the two grown-ups & their 'littles'. Still on the subject of recycling, Christopher Mintz-Plasse was very funny as McLovin, but it would've been nice to see the poor guy get a role that wasn't "the Nerd" again.
The character who was the most recycled was Sean William Scott's; in "American Pie", Scott plays a constantly-horny, partially-psychotic wacko whose heart is bigger than his brain, named Stiffler. In "Role Models", Scott plays a constantly-horny, partially-psychotic wacko whose heart is bigger than his brain, named Wheeler. Oooooooo! Progress! I'm surprised there weren't any characters ranting about wanting to bang "Wheeler's Mom".
The gem of this film, for me, was Bobb'e J. Thompson, who played Ronnie. He's gotta be one of the funniest kids I've ever seen in a movie (it's not often they get kids to swear on film, but Bobb'e just went off the charts!). And of course, the movie gains points for having the funniest woman alive in it: Jane Lynch, I love ya.
I liked the L.A.I.R.E. aspect, very funny. It was a good excuse for the writers to make things super-climactic, and at the same time, incredibly silly. I just wish the action & humor didn't have to die down just so we could get that LAME ending with Paul Rudd singing to his girlfriend.
All in all, I'd say Role Models scores a solid 54% on the Grading System That I Made Up Myself.

Oh, and if you liked Wheeler & are interested in seeing what else his character has been up to, check out "American Pie", "American Pie 2", and "American Pie 3: The Shove-Stifler-Down-Our-Throats Extravaganza in 3-D".

;)