COMEDY; 1hr 39min
STARRING: Paul Rudd, Seann William Scott, Elizabeth Banks, Christopher Mintz-Plasse, Bobb’e J. Thompson
Naughty chair: from left, Mintz-Plasse, Rudd, Scott and Thompson
Danny (Rudd, who co-wrote the screenplay) is a nitpicking grouch in a mile-wide rut, spruiking an energy drink to unimpressed schoolkids with his perplexingly cheery sidekick Wheeler (Scott). (While Danny plods through his spiel, Wheeler jumps around in a Minotaur suit-that being the bevvie’s name.)
When Danny’s fed-up lawyer girlfriend (Banks) gives him the heave-ho and his day rapidly goes south in the vehicular-infringements department, he and Wheeler are sentenced to 150 hours community service with Sturdy Wings, a charity that pairs disadvantaged children with helpmate adults. If Danny was a superior sourpuss before — and he was — he’s in for a laundry list of provocation now.
Comedic trials by fire are a live-and-learn (and hit-and-miss) deal. Role Models follows the ham–cheese form but pithy scripting carries the bubbly concept without breaking stride. Factor in Mintz-Plasse (Superbad ’s Fogell-slash-McLovin’) and Thompson, as Danny and Wheeler’s anti-cute kids in need, and a sardonic Jane Lynch, as Sturdy Wings’ recovering-addict director, and this raunchy world of weirdness is a win-win all around.
