Crude humor and lots of laughs for ‘Role Models’

If you know KISS’s “Love Gun” doesn’t have anything to do with an actual gun and then share its meaning with a six-year-old, you probably shouldn’t be a role model. But last week’s no. 2 box office hit, “Role Models,” imparts any and all raunchy adult humor to two young kids looking for acceptance.

Danny (Paul Rudd) and Wheeler (Sean William Scott of “American Pie”) are energy drink spokesmen who go from school to school performing anti-drug and anti-drinking speeches. Instead, they suggest drinking a Minotaur. Everything goes downhill for Danny after realizing his job has turned into the last 10 years of his life. He realizes his goals and ambition have been wasted, his life isn’t what he wants it to be and his co-worker is an immature party boy who he doesn’t want to be like.

When Danny proposes to his girlfriend Beth (Elizabeth Banks) to solve the problem, he only creates another – their breakup. His day spirals out of control until it ends with an arrest. He and Wheeler are stuck between an ultimatum – 30 days in jail or 150 hours of community service at a mentorship program called Sturdy Wings. They clearly choose the latter for the stereotypical fear of being raped.

There, Danny is paired with Augie (Christopher Mintz-Plasse of “Superbad”), who plays a role-playing nerd interested solely in fake battles at L.A.I.R.E. Wheeler is paired with Ronnie (Bobb’e J. Thompson), a trash-talking brat who holds a reputation of getting rid of most of his “bigs” in one day.

Regardless of their assigned kids’ peculiarities and flaws, Danny and Wheeler decide they absolutely can’t give up on their kids because they can’t imagine a worse punishment than jail. Their decision to stick it out leads to a movie full of raunchy humor, tons of sexual innuendoes and priceless references from pop culture that guarantee at least one laugh every five minutes.

The film goes through the stereotypical comedy plot arc: starting strong, hitting a dilemma, finding a solution, facing a setback and then getting the happy ending – all as an underdog is realizing their initial character flaws and growing from it.

Despite the tried and true stereotype, the audience members are constantly laughing at well-delivered lines with perfect facial expressions. Thompson steals the show with some of the best lines of the movie, and Mintz-Plasse cements himself a typecast as a nerd for any and all future roles. Scott basically plays a less annoying Stifler, which pretty much cements him into a typecast as well. Rudd showcases his classic sarcasm. Jane Lynch, who plays the director of Sturdy Wings, is a phenomenal actress who adds her off-brand sense of humor to her character.

The chemistry of the cast makes an interesting dialogue spiced with most expletives known to man. The cast all have amazing one-liners that will probably stick with pop culture for some time to come. So if you don’t know what a “whispering eye” is or what bagel dogs look like, you should probably get to the theater.

Contact all reporter Robert Checkal at [email protected].