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Slowly, over the last 10 years, Danny (Paul Rudd) has slipped into a deep, dark rut. Every day, he travels to schools with a guy named Wheeler (Seann William Scott), shilling Minotaur energy drink while telling kids to stay off drugs. He hates his job. He hates pretentious coffee shops. He hates people who say things like “24/7.” But he loves his girlfriend, Beth (Elizabeth Banks)—mostly because she hates the same things that he does. But when Beth decides that she’s had enough of his Debbie Downer attitude, she dumps him—and it’s more than Danny can handle.
Danny’s post-break-up breakdown lands both Danny and Wheeler in trouble with the law. Attorney Beth manages to keep them from doing time, but they end up with a sentence that could be much, much worse: 150 hours working as mentors for kids.
Wheeler ends up with a tough, foul-mouthed little kid named Ronnie (Bobb’e J. Thompson). But while they eventually bond over their mutual love of boobs, Danny has a harder time relating to his “Little,” a role-playing, cape-wearing geek named Augie (Christopher “McLovin’” Mintz-Plasse).
With their subtler, geeky humor and their wacky storyline, Rudd and Mintz-Plasse make Role Models an enjoyably outrageous comedy. Be warned, however, that, in order to truly enjoy the movie, you’ll have to be able to overlook some of the film’s low points—like Seann William Scott and his entire storyline. Sure, street-smart, foul-mouthed Ronnie is funny—but only for a while. And Scott has played the pointless pervert so many times before that the whole act feels old and worn-out before the end of the first scene.
Danny and Augie, on the other hand, give the movie both humor and heart. While Rudd has played the clueless underachiever before—and Mintz-Plasse has played the awkward geek before—they both do it so well (in the same way that Michael Cera is really good at playing the lovably bumbling loser). Their characters are more developed, too—so there’s more to their personalities than just a love of boobs and KISS. The characters are sweet and goofy, and, by the time the movie's over, they’re both stronger, better people. Ronnie and Wheeler, meanwhile, still love boobs.
Had Role Models been about just one role model—and had Wheeler and Ronnie been just minor characters—it would have been a lovably geeky (and even PG-13) comedy. As it is, though, Role Models is dumbed-down and over-the-top and often unnecessarily obnoxious. If you can overlook the same old Seann William Scott character, you’ll still find plenty to love about Role Models—but it’s probably best just to wait for the DVD.
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