Know your role

I needed a break tonight, so I went over and caught Role Models at the budget theater before it leaves this weekend.

And as I sit here trying to type up a review, I'm struggling to come up with a lot to say. In this case, it's an example of 'perfectly acceptable filmmaking'. The film certainly wasn't bad. Yet, it also didn't rise above the material and become something special. It has a competent story and a number of laughs, but didn't leave a lasting impression on me. In other words, it's the perfect budget theater movie.

A large part of the blame lies squarely on the shoulders of the film's trailer. It pretty much spells everything out for you in it. You're given the premise, an understanding of the main characters and a sense of how things will turn out. It ended up not leaving a lot of surprises for the actual film. It takes quite a while before you see something in the film that you feel is fresh or unrecognizable.

Contributing to the lack of surprise though is the film's characters. Now don't get me wrong, this film has a great cast and each of them deliver funny performances. But none of these characters truly get developed, nor do they go against the roles we've seen these actors play before. Wow it's Paul Rudd as the smarmy guy. Hey, it's Sean William Scott as the party animal. There's Christopher Mintz-Plasse (aka McLovin) as the geeky teen. It's as if the film was written based on who the actors were instead of creating the characters first and letting the actors work at making them coming to life. Even Elizabeth Banks, who we all know I love, isn't given much to do here besides being the adorable girlfriend.

About the only person who really rises above the material is the always reliable Jane Lynch. Playing the director of Sturdy Wings (the Big Brothers-esque organization that the main characters have to volunteer at), Lynch has a lot of fun playing this no-nonsense character. Her character delivers all of these great lines that sound tough and intimidating but truly don't fit within the context of the conversation. Having Rudd and Scott play straight men to these lines just add to their humor.

While director David Wain (The Ten) may not have the clout that Judd Apatow has in Hollywood, he does still manage to corral a great group of supporting players to play bit parts in the film. Most of them are people you may not know by name, but will easily recognize. And each of them are successful at wringing out a few laughs from their characters.

Of course the plot here, while unrealistic, is pretty formulaic. I didn't have a major problem with it though because it never felt heavy-handed. The idea of boys becoming men isn't revolutionary, but the ideas used to support this story work and seem fresh. I think everyone will think twice about laughing at those who are fans of Dungeons and Dragons and other fantasy related games. Watching these guys 'battle' in the film probably will make a lot of people want to unleash their inner 'Braveheart'.

If the story is lacking anywhere it's in the set up. We really don't get a good sense of why any of these characters are the way that they are. For a comedy, I suppose backstory isn't essential, but it would have been nice. Providing a foundation for who these characters are may have made us care about them a bit more instead of passive watching them and laughing at the funny things they say.

I would definitely recommend this as a rental. If you enjoy these actors, this is another fine entry in their growing list of work. It has plenty of laughs and won't tax your mind. Just don't expect anything special from this movie. It's a role model of the ordinary. Grade: B