Role Models is a successfully funny comedy about two friends, Wheeler (Sean William Scott) and Paul Rudd, who work at a Red Bull-like energy drink company called Minotaur. Their job is to around to high school campuses pitching the green poison with the slogan "Say no to drugs, and Yes! to Minotaur!" (I sure hope this isn't based off of real life.) Paul Rudd hates his job (which he should) and is depressed about his life. Wheeler loves his job, (which he shouldn't) and is way to happy to enjoy prancing around in a Minotaur suit at his age. Rudd, in an act of desperation, proposes to his long time girlfriend. She sensibly dumps him. He goes into a tailspin of anger, disillusionment, and despair. He follows the great movie tradition of doing it in front of a large group of impressionable children. A couple of my favorites variations on that theme are Billy Crystal's monologue in 'City Slickers' and Billy Bob Thornton drunken fight with a fake reindeer in 'Bad Santa'. Long story short the duo finds themselves faced with a month of jail time or 150 hours of community service. They choose the lesser of two evils and get involved in a big brother organization named 'Sturdy Wings.' Paul Rudd is assigned a super nerd named Augie, played by Christopher Minz-Plasse ('McLovin' of Superbad fame) who spends his days in a fantasy role-playing game named LAIRE. Wheeler is assigned to Bobby, a fatherless child of 10 with an aggressive mouth and wild demeanor. The two match-ups provide good arcs for both characters. Rudd in an attempt to guide Augie into manhood becomes more of a kid. Wheeler in an attempt to tame Bobby grows up. This is all accomplished in good fun, clever dialogue, and a few outrageous scenes. Providing solid supporting work as a the leader of 'Sturdy Wings' is a reformed coke whore played by the beloved Jane Lynch. It really is one of those roles that only she can pull off. (Well maybe Whoopi Goldberg) She repeatedly mentions her very sordid past and yet still has a commanding sense of moral authority. At the same time she is consistently funny. I wouldn't be surprised if Lynch had completely improvised three quarters of her lines.
Wheeler's storyline is good, but the real meat of the movie lies in Paul Rudd's relationship with Augie. The context for this storyline is much more intricate. We spend a great deal of time in the world of LAIRE, a game that although being super nerdy really grows on you after awhile. In time Rudd, like us, learns to understand that it really isn't all that bad. The people Augie hangs out with are somewhat deluded yes but they aren't creepy. Joe Lo Truglio (long a staple cameo in Apatow films like 'Pineapple Express,' and 'Superbad,') gets his first substantial supporting role as Fuzzik, a man who is so into LAIRE that he never ceases to talk in loud oratory Medieval speak. I can only imagine how fun it was on the set when he pontificated all his scenes. Everyone in LAIRE is participating in a mass hysteria and it is done with such joy of performance that the entire idea of dressing up like knights to fake battle in the local park is forgivable. Paul Rudd (and us) slowly come around to this and little by little he drop his shell of cynicism.
Then come a couple of scenes that make this good comedy, somewhat great. Augie, not surprisingly, is ridiculed and made fun of. The most painful scene involves his well-meaning parents that constantly berate him about LAIRE. This is where Paul Rudd's performance really transcends the genre. It's the sort of scene that should get him a Golden Globe nomination. Rudd defends Augie by going so far as to tell his parents that they are wrong about their own son. What does he say to Augie: "Do what makes you happy." and to his parents: "I would be psyched if he was my kid." Christopher Minze-Plasse's reaction to all of this is perfect. It hits just the correct note and is very close to real life.
The last part of the movie takes place in a grand make believe battle royale in LAIRE land. The swordplay was choreographed by the guy who did the fight scenes in 'Bourne Ultimatum.' The last battle is between Augie and the king of the battlefield (you might remember him as the doctor from 'Knocked Up') who had picked on him earlier. It is an incredibly entertaining, suspenseful, and satisfying ending to the story.
Like all good comedies, 'Role Models' gives us good reasons to care about the characters. And like all great comedies the makers spend this emotional capital to bring us down only to shoot us even higher. This is what I call a comedy's daredevil jump. The deeper emotionally the story gets the bigger the jump. The story's payoff is the landing. The longer the jump the more spectacular the landing or crash. The greatest jump I've ever seen landed was in 'Little Miss Sunshine.' Other notables that I can think of right now are 'Forgetting Sarah Marshall' 'There's Something about Mary' 'Hamlet 2' and 'American Pie.' Good comedies take jumps. Great comedies land them. This one does both.
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