Paul Rudd takes on just the right wry comic tone as Danny, a disenchanted corporate mouthpiece who believes he’s flushing his life away working with mascot/partner, Wheeler (Seann William Scott) , peddling Minotaur Energy Drinks from school to school under the guise of anti-drug PSA’s. When Danny’s life takes a turn for the worse, he drowns his sorrows and disappointment in an energy drink binge which clouds his judgement, causing them both to land on the wrong side of the law. With a choice between jail time and community service, the duo goes with the obvious choice: community service at Sturdy Wings, acting as “Bigs” for underpriviledged “Littles.”
The two get more than they bargain for – well, maybe Wheeler did, anyhow – when they get paired up with their Littles. Danny takes on an introverted, live-action role player by the name of Augie Farks (Christopher Mintz-Plasse – who’ll always be immortalized to many of us as McLovin’). Wheeler gets the fortune of taking on a miniature version of himself, except quite a bit cruder, in the form of Ronnie Shields (Bobb’e J. Thompson).
The beginning was a little slow as the audience was being introduced to Danny and Wheeler. Once the pleasantries are out of the way and the Littles get on the scene, the movie notches up the hilarity immediately. Scott and Rudd may have gotten top billing, but both were upstaged by their miniature counterparts, with Thompson stealing most of the guffaws. As with most comedic formulas, the tempo slows down as the characters all start getting serious with each other after the predictable let down from older duo surely comes. However, unlike most comedies, Role Models was able to crank it back up to finish telling a pretty damn good story overall.
While the laughs weren’t exactly rapid fire, the movie was still engaging and charming enough while mired in bouts of crudeness. Do yourself a favor and watch it at the theatres now.
