Role Models is a 2008 comedy starring Paul Rudd, Sean William Scott, Christopher Mintz-Plasse, Elizabeth Banks, Bobb'e J. Thompson, Ken Jeong, and Jane Lynch. This movie is pretty typical of Paul Rudd's more recent comedies. Rudd ( who was co-writer on the movie) plays Danny, a guy stuck in a dead-end job, pushing energy drinks on high school students in a stay-off-drugs campaign. Seann William Scott plays yet another version of Stifler. Scott has basically become a character actor playing a version of Stifler in every movie he does. In this one, he plays Anson Wheeler, the mascot for the energy drink company who works with Danny. He is basically a slacker with no responsibility, and that is a role that Scott can play very well. When Danny and Anson end up getting in trouble with the law, they are sentenced to community service, acting as big brothers for a couple of kids (Mintz-Plasse and Thompson) at a place called Sturdy Wings, which is run by Jane Lynch's character. From there, it is a pretty formulaic, raunchy comedy with lessons about growing up, responsibility, and, to some extent, family.
The Blu-Ray's A/V quality is good, but nothing to write home about. The extras include a couple of making-of and behind-the-scenes featurettes, a gag reel, and 40+ minutes of deleted scenes. There is also a commentary track on the theatrical version of the film with director David Wain that is pretty funny in parts but mostly just talks about the various aspects of production. The movie is an above-average (but not great) comedy. Rudd and Scott play their characters well, but the standouts are Christopher Mintz-Plasse as Augie Farks, who follows up his great performance in Superbad as a different kind of nerdy kid, who is into live-action role-playing D&D-like games, Bobb'e J. Thompson as Ronnie Shields a foul-mouthed 11-year-old only child of a single mother, Jane Lynch as Gayle Sweeney the director of Sturdy Wings and former cocaine addict who has no problem oversharing about her days as a junkie, and Ken Jeong as King Argotron, the leader of the role-playing group. Elizabeth Banks is also in the film as Danny's girlfriend and lawyer. She does a good job with what she has to do, but once the kids are introduced, her character is pretty much sidelined for most of the movie.
This is definitely not a movie for everyone. The R rating, is well deserved, mostly for the language. There are a couple brief flashes of nudity and a lot of suggestive sexual dialog. There is not much in the way of actual sex, but there is a ton of swearing throughout the movie. So if that would bother you, then it is best to skip this. But if you are a fan of recent adult comedies (think most of the Apatow movies), then you will likely enjoy this. It is not deep or complex in any way and does not really try to take itself too seriously. It is not something that was ever going to compete for an Oscar or even be mentioned among the greatest comedies of all time, but if you accept it for what it is and what it is not, it is an enjoyable way to pass an hour and a half or so.
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