ROLE MODELS

"#Slap!#"

For Danny (Rudd) his job promoting energy drinks to school wasn't something he saw as a long-term career but when his colleagues throw him a ten-year anniversary party, he flips. Angry at everything, even alienating his Beth (Banks) by randomly proposing to her, Danny does something completely stupid, he gets himself and his work partner Wheeler (William Scott) one hundred and fifty hours of community service. This is to take place at 'Study Wings', a programme that pairs together troubled children, Littles, with adults, Bigs, but when Danny and Wheeler are paired with Augie (Mintz-Plasse) and Ronnie (Thompson), their community service might just be not as easy as they thought.

The Hollywood comedy has found a new least of life at the box office and with 'Role Models' that trend is about to continue.

Since the turn of the millennium, the Hollywood comedy has found a new least of life at the box office, all because of the introduction of crudity. Hits like 'The 40 Year-Old Virgin', 'Superbad', 'Step Brothers' and the 'American Pie' series have seen a mix of teen and adult comedies become box office favourite but they all have the same plot device in common, crude, near the knuckle comedy. 'Role Models' follows that same formula.

The premise is a simple one. When Danny and Wheeler are arrested for doing something completely stupid they are offered either jail time or community service by the judge. Of course they choose the community service option but after their first day they wish they had gone to the big house. The problem is that they are sent to 'Study Wings', a programme that pairs troubled children with adult role models to try and turn their lives around but for Danny and Wheeler their assigned kids are a geeky lad who loves fantasy role play and a young kid who has the foulest mouth you have ever heard. Of course this leads to comedy shenanigans and some hilarious set pieces.

Hollywood crude comedies have been a mix of teen and adult fair but 'Role Models' successfully mixes both together. Starring Paul Rudd, who may have started his career in the teen hit comedy 'Clueless', has established himself as a stalwart actor in adult hit comedies like 'Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy', 'The 40 Year Old Virgin' and 'Knocked Up' and is now been considered as a lead actor. While he might have failed to set the box office alight in 'Over Her Dead Body', this is the movie that shows he can be a leading man. Joining him is an actor who also made his name in teen comedies, Stifler himself, Seann William Scott. He might have struggled to distance himself from the character that made and for 'Role Models' he is basically playing Stifler as a grown up but he has fun with his role as Wheeler. The current star of the teen comedy, McLovin himself, Christopher Mintz-Plasse plays the geeky, role-playing obsessed Augie who has closed himself off to the real world and embraced the fantasy. The star of the movie is Bobb'e J. Thompson however. If you can hark back to the 80s when Eddie Murphy was funny, imagine what Murphy was like when he was eleven years old and that is what you get from Bobb'e J. Thompson as Ronnie.

With a very funny cast and jokes that, while a little crude and rude, hit more than they miss 'Role Models' is a fun comedy that will really have you laughing. Bobb'e J. Thompson steals show but this is movie that should propel Paul Rudd into the big leagues.

PICTURE & SOUND

Presented in Widescreen 1.85:1 Anamorphic with a Dolby Digital 5.1 soundtrack, the transfer is good.

BONUS FEATURES

Deleted Scenes and Extended Takes (24.42 mins)
Entitled 'The Night before', 'In the Minotaur Mobile', 'Wheeler loves his job', 'Coffee shop', 'Security guard', 'Jail', 'The getting to know you ball', 'Buddha on TV', 'Danny and Beth coffee shop alternate scene', 'The soccer mom', 'Dinner scene', 'Chip Monk locker room', 'Burger hole', 'Davith and Beth', 'The post-battle battle', 'Jim and Sweeny', 'Wheeler hits on Gretchen', 'Duane and his little' and 'Reactions to Beth', these deleted or alternate scenes suffer from the lack of a commentary track or introduction to explain why they were removed.

Bloopers (3.53 mins)
Watch the cast and crew have fun on set and make a hash of their lines.

On the set of Role Models (7.42 mins)
Co-writer/director David Wain, co-writer Ken Marino, producers Scott Studer and Mary Parent and stars Paul Rudd, Seann William Scott, Christopher Mintz-Plasse, Bobb'e J. Thompson, Jane Lynch and Elizabeth Banks take you onto the set of 'Role Models'.

Game On: Creating a Role Playing World (9.47 mins)
The cast and crew talk about creating the fantasy role-playing world of 'Laire' and the fun they had creating and training for the battles with rubber swords.

In Character & Off Script (8.07 mins)
Entitled 'Study Wings Salutes: Martin Gray', 'Kuzzik: Proud Xanthian' and 'Davith of Glencracken', these short featurettes highlight the improv skills of A.D. Miles, Joe Lo Truglio and Matt Walsh.

Feature Commentary with Director/Co-Writer David Wain
The man at the helm talks about bringing 'Role Models' to the silver screen. He reveals were the deleted scenes were cut, the history of the movie, co-writing the script and casting the roles in the film. This is a decent single person commentary from an enthusiastic director with a bright future.

Trailers
Previews of 'The Boat that Rocked', 'Duplicity', 'State of Play', 'Frost/Nixon' and 'Fast and Furious'

OVERALL

The DVD treatment for 'Role Models' is one that fans of the movie should enjoy. The disc is filled with fun featurettes and a decent commentary track, making this is good buy.

DVD

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2009