You'd Trust Them with Your Kids?!

We here at Asteroid G are big fans of actor Paul Rudd. He's a charming, seemingly ageless guy who always beings his affable charisma to his roles. He's like a warm presence in most films he's in, from Clueless to Our Idiot Brother, and many more. Hell, it's hard to even hate him for the numerous, numerous times he screwed with Conan O'Brien but queuing to a clip of his "new movie" and then running the exact same segment from Mac and Me time and again. He's an imp, but a charming one.

And yet, one of his best, funniest movies is the one where he doesn't play the charming, happy-go-lucky imp. Instead, his character is kind of a schmuck, a put-upon sad sack who hates everyone and is irritated by everything. The film deftly relies on his deadpan ability to deliver a reaction shot, to handle the solid cut-away to sell any joke or scene. He's a misanthrope, but still a lovable one because, deep down, it's really hard to hate Paul Rudd. The film in question is Role Models and it's easily one of the funniest films of the last twenty years.

In the film, Rudd plays Danny, an anti-drug speaker who goes from school to school telling kids to avoid the hard stuff and, instead, drink Minotaur Energy Drinks. He's a corporate shill, in essence, and hates it. But then, he hates everything. He hates other people. He hates the things people say. He hates the fact that coffee at brand name shops comes in "Tall", "Grande", and "Venti", all of which mean large. He hates everything so much that his girlfriend of seven years, Beth (Elizabeth Banks), dumps him after a botched marriage proposal. This sends Danny spinning out, screwing up the speech he had to give at the next school he went to. When the truck he drives with his co-worker, Wheeler (Seann William Scott), is about to get towed, Danny tries to steal it back, causing damage to the trucks, damage to school property, and a little like reckless endangerment to go along with.

This puts both Danny and Wheeler on the line for 30 days jail time. But, luckily, Beth is able to talk the judge into a different arrangement: suspended sentence if they're willing to do 150 hours at the Sturdy Wings (read: Big Brother) charity. Danny ends up paired with a nerd into Live Action Role Playing, Augie (Christopher Mintz-Plasse). Meanwhile, Wheeler, the womanizing ladies man, is paired with foul mouthed little squirt, Ronnie (Bobb'e J. Thompson). These two are about to learn to let people in their lives in ways they didn't expect, and maybe grow into actual decent role models as well.

Technically the film has two leads, Rudd and Scott, but frankly the film doesn't give anywhere near the same amount of screen time, or story development, to Wheeler as it does Danny. We get to see Danny's entire life fall apart, from his girl leaving him to wrecking the Minotaur truck, getting a court judgment against him, and all of it. He has to rebuild himself, to find a way to make himself happy, maybe get his girl back, and grow close to a kid he thinks is actually pretty cool. That's a full, legitimate arc and the film gives Rudd's character all the time in the world to handle it.

By comparison, Wheeler is just a kind of himbo. His big traits are that he likes women, has a lot of sex, is kind of oblivious to anything bad going on around him, and he really likes KISS (the band). He bonds with Ronnie because they're both kind of foul mouthed, but beyond that his biggest learning lesson is ditching Ronnie for a girl at a party and then realizing he lost track of the kid. He doesn't really change -- he's the same person at the end of the film, just with a kid as a friend -- as he was at the beginning, he just gets to aid Danny through the other guy's arc.

Not that I think that's a big deal, it's just that the film sells itself on the idea this is about two protagonists having to grow up, finally, but only one of them really has an arc. Hell, all of Wheeler's big traits end up servicing Danny's character arc (such as Danny assisting Augie at his big LARP event by getting all four characters to dress up as the KISS Army so they can enter and try to win. Wheeler's love of KISS really only comes into play so it can help Danny help Augie and win everyone over.

That really makes this a vehicle for Rudd, which makes even more sense when you realize he was also one of the writers on the movie. But, again, that's not a bad thing because Rudd also carries this film. Scott is fine as Wheeler, and even has some decently funny moments, but his comedy is nothing in comparison to the work Rudd puts in. It's fair to say that Rudd absolutely carries this movie, delivering every big laugh with his line deliveries and dead pan reactions (his reaction shot to Wheeler asking "is the 'Get Out of Jail Free Card' based on legal precedent?" is an absolute thing of beauty). This is considered a fantastic comedy because of Rudd and his performance.

With that said, I do also appreciate how committed to Augie the film is. He's a LARPer but while some characters around him might judge the kid poorly for his interests (like his parents, played by Kerri Kenney-Silver and Ken Marino) the film never does. In fact, it buys in hard on his LARP interests, even setting the whole climax of the film around the event for LAIRE (the LARPing group) so that Danny can prove he cares about this kid. It works because the movie invests in this interest and plays it legitimately. Hell, near the end Danny even says that LAIRE is "a blast" to play.

I think that's what I appreciate most about the film: despite how much Danny hates everything in the world, the film celebrates it all. Ronnie is a potty mouth, but the film doesn't really judge him for it. Yes, Wheeler loves the ladies probably a little too much, but there's an inherent sweetness to him, coupled with the fact that he's up front about who he is, that means that while he does sleep around it's not really a character flaw. Augie is a nerd but he's also pivotal, in her nerdery, to the movie. The only person judged for how they are is Danny and that's because he's a real sad and sorry sonuvabitch (and then he changes).

Role Models is a loose and easy going comedy that lets the characters just be themselves as they take a very minor journey of self discovery. It's funny and silly and sometimes pretty bawdy, but it also has that Wheeler sweetness to it that shows it really cares about its characters. By the end of the film you will have a laughed a ton but you'll also find that your heart has been warmed, just a little, by the whole journey. It's the perfect blend of sweet and tangy in comedy form, an instant classic that stays fresh and hilarious all these years later.