Sunday, March 29, 2009

DVD Review: Role Models (more reasons to love Paul Rudd)

My brother recommended Role Models which came out on DVD recently, starring Paul Rudd and Sean William Scott. He thought it was hysterical, and usually I believe him, very much so in this case - I loved it. It's not particularly high brow, but it does take a fairly usual concept - hating your job and letting life pass you by, and having to deal with the consequences - and does some unique stories with it. Rudd and Scott represent a sports drink and one day Rudd goes off the rails and they end up having to serve community service at a Boys and Girls club sort of place, run by the hysterical Jane Lynch. Scott is partnered with a young Bobb'e J. Thompson, with a foul mouth and obviously used to male influences leaving him. Rudd is teamed up with Christopher Mintz-Plasse (McLovin' from Superbad) who enjoys live-action role playing games. They both struggle to get the boys to trust them, and work through their own issues, eventually fighting with each other. Ultimately they all work it out on the "battlefield" and come together (to form the nation of Kiss-My-Anthia - dressed like the band Kiss) to fight against some bad-ass players (the hysterical Ken Jeong as the King). There are lots of laugh really hard out loud moments. I thought it was better written and more believeable than much of the Judd Apatow franchise, with fewer potty jokes and a lot more humor. Watching Scott explain to his kid the great art of "boobie-watching" nearly had me in tears. As always Jane Lynch is just a hairs breath from over-the-top but always on the funny side. 4.5 stars/Lambs

3 comments:

Buttercup said...

Would I like this one? I'm not sure.

Jess said...

Buttercup, yes, I think you'd like it. There's little potty humor and lots of dorkiness.

Reel Whore said...

This was another winner from Rudd! My favorite was Mintz-Plasse, I totally believed him as the introverted teen. The whispering eye bit almost put me on the floor; it was so perfectly done.