Any-hoo, our subject for today: Role Models. My son rented it to watch with a friend the other night, which meant that MY plans were to seal myself in my bedroom with a good book. But I caught the first scene, sat down, and watched the whole thing. Twice.
David Wain (he of MADtv) has created a movie that's definitely in what I call the Adolescent Fart Film genre, and on that level it is not at all surprising -- lots of T&A (and jokes on same) and a plot built around the wacky shenanigans of a pair of endearing but knuckle-headed guy pals.
It has another level, though, that astonished me: the acting. It is wonderful across the whole cast, which says as much about the directing (casting, too) as it does about the actors.
The Amazing Jane Lynch gives her character (an addict whose drug of choice is now her kid's charity) a nuanced creepiness that is complex and hilarious and hard to put your finger on. Her performance alone makes the movie worth seeing. Paul Rudd plays Paul Rudd -- and as one of the writers, he clearly meant it for Paul Rudd -- which is perfect in this case. He actually shows a lot more range and creative muscle in I Love You, Man, but that would have been overkill in Role Models.
Because I usually avoid the AFF genre altogether, I hadn't seen much of Seann William Scott, but he was great, slipping little moments of grown-up into his silly boy-man character that made me honestly wonder what he'd be like in a stage drama.
Bobb'e J. Thompson was forgettable, in fact annoyingly hammy. But I hope Alexandra Stamler and Christopher Minz-Plasse are forever grateful to Wain for the candid and sensitive portraits he helped them create. They're new enough (Stamler is completely new to the screen, I think) that they could have really blown it by overdoing their roles as LARP-obsessed teenagers.
I don't know why Elizabeth Banks (who plays Rudd's girlfriend) annoys me, but it probably isn't her fault, so I won't whine.
There are some good one-liners, but what makes this a strong comedy is that it's built on so many layers of irony about what really defines addiction, drugs, maturity, normalcy, fantasy, eccentricity, even good versus evil.
Okay, so it isn't Rachel Getting Married (OMG what a film), but I was really surprised at how good it was.
