Role Models

[MacGuffin]

Trailer

Release date: November 14, 2008

Starring: Seann William Scott, Paul Rudd, Elizabeth Banks

Director: David Wain

Premise: Wild behavior forces a pair of energy drink reps (Paul Rudd and Seann William Scott) to enroll in a Big Brother program.

[matt35mm]

I didn't really like the trailer until the last 3rd or so, but I really like David Wain, and those kids look hilarious.

I'm going to love this movie.

[El Duderino]

I love David Wain. I thought The Ten was great. I wish they would've gone with someone other than Seann William Scott, but whatever. I'll see it.

[Stefen]

ElDuderino, what's up? Long time, eh?

[El Duderino]

Yeah man. Couple years, I'd say, but now I'm back in the saddle. Feels good. 

[clerkguy23]

this movie was surprisingly funny (or actually, not-so-surprisingly funny, if you're a huge fan of david wain). i went in expecting to see david wain doing mainstream comedy and ending up getting a very wet hot kind of comedy but played for a broader audience. as always, paul rudd was hilarious and all of the state, wet hot, and reno crew actually had substantial, funny roles-- not just throw away lines that you forget after 2 minutes (a.d. miles, jo lo truglio, and ken marino are the highlights). i hope this gets david wain more exposure now. at least it did better than zack and miri.

[Stefen]

The little black kid is hilarious. I used to watch him on That's so Raven all the time.

[matt35mm]

I am a David Wain fan so I already have quite the boner for this movie.  Happy to hear that it's not flavorless mainstream comedy.

[Kal]

I wanted to see this and missed it in theaters. It's fucking hilarious. I laughed my ass off with those kids, and Paul Rudd was excellent.

[MacGuffin]

this movie was surprisingly funny

Yes it was. I wasn't taken much by the trailer when I first saw it, so I didn't have many expectations. But the reviews here got me interested. I didn't quite laugh my ass off as much as Step Brothers, but it was right up there.

[john]

Yeah, I skipped this based on the trailer alone. A very pleasant surprise. Not hilarious, but continually humorous. Plus, every time it seemed like it was going to trip itself up with gooey, forced sentiment - it would pull back and actually show a bit more restraint than I expected.

The way Seann William Scott's little brother would react to stuff was just incredible. He had better timing and reactions than most comedic actors two or three times his age.

Catching up on films this made me realize that 2008 wasn't really a terrible year for film, it just delivered in unexpected areas. Films like this, or Ghost Town, that followed a very structured, middle-of-the-road pattern turned out to be more rewarding cinematic investments than a lot of "prestige" pictures were.

[SiliasRuby]

You are right john, consistently humorous and had a really great time. Seann William Scott's best performance since 'southland tales' and the original 'american pie'.

[matt35mm]

This movie was great.  Seeing it so soon after Baby Mama, another relatively light comedy made by smart people, made me see either how difficult it is to pull off as well as in Role Models or how inept the Baby Mama filmmakers were.

Total man crush on Rudd and Wain, maybe even a little something for Seann William Scott.  PLUS the female characters were great and interesting with minds of their own.  Baby Mama barely has this, and worse is in movies like Frost/Nixon, another film about a couple of dudes, where the female lead is just there to be sexy and supportive and boring.