As it is for me with most comedies, Role Models just isn’t quite as good the second time around, but it still remains a solid comedic entry and certainly worth a once over. I still get a laugh out of such innocently delivered lines such as “It’s not poison, it has juice in it…” referring to the energy drink the two stars are pitching, and the all-to-poignant, “Why did you put ‘presence’ in quotes? Are you implying we’re not here?” These are lines that either come out of nowhere or are simply things most everyone wants to say and are just too worried about hurting someone’s feelings to bring up. In my case it would be the latest trend to use the word “literally” and I am sure you have your own pet peeve you can fit into the mix. Rudd’s character in this film is dialed-in when it comes to society’s nuisances and it cleverly adds a nice little touch to the rest of the comedy around him.
The film stars Paul Rudd and Seann William Scott as a pair of energy drink pitchmen that end up on the wrong side of the law and have to serve as big brothers to avoid jail time. Their two “littles” are the foul mouthed Ronnie played perfectly by Bobb’e J. Thompson and Augie played by Superbad star Christopher Mintz-Plasse, a.k.a. McLovin. The four endure ups and downs in the traditional become friends, friendship falls apart and then gets fixed mold, but there is just enough of a twist to the tale and certainly enough comedy to help it stand out above the rest. Primarily the film enjoys enough smart dialogue that catches you off guard often enough and has the right cast delivering the punch lines to satisfy any picky audience.
As for this Blu-ray release you get two versions of the film, an unrated and the theatrical version. The unrated version runs approximately three minutes longer and I was able to pick out a few differences, but nothing so ground-breaking it makes one version better than the other. The special features are quite abundant especially the 50 minutes of deleted scenes and alternate takes that I didn’t dare even attempt to dive into (who watches 41 deleted/alternate scenes?). The 4-minute blooper real was a fun enough watch and the short 8-minute “On the Set of Role Models” making-of featurette was actually quite fun as the R-rating wasn’t cut out of any of the special features to tone them down. The best is about a 30 second clip talking about the casting of Bobb’e Thompson which begins with Elizabeth Banks saying, “I can’t wait to hear that kid curse up a storm,” followed by a montage of Thompson delivering some fantastic lines. That kid is hilarious.
There are a pair of features related to the in-movie role-playing game “LAIRE” including an interactive crest maker and a look at the game itself (not interested), as well as three mockumentaries looking at three of the inconsequential, yet memorable, characters from the film.
Finishing it all off there is an audio commentary with director/co-writer David Wain on the theatrical cut, which is more of a tame and low-key commentary and a Blu-ray exclusive picture-in-picture feature that accompanies the unrated cut which makes use of all the special features I already mentioned as well as expands on them. The picture-in-picture probably is your best bet to hammer home all the behind-the-scenes stuff and blooper reel at once and if you are interested in the deleted scenes give them a peek afterward.
I definitely recommend everyone give Role Models a one-time look, it is quite funny the first time around. The fact I wasn’t laughing as much as I did the first time led me to believe this may not be a title worth owning so perhaps a rent before buying is in order, but definitely don’t go without giving this one a chance. It’s worth a look.
