Review of Role Models (2008) by Tristan H — 09 Aug 2014

Role Models isn't necessarily as interesting or great on a moment to moment level as They Came Together or Wanderlust, and certainly nowhere near as creative as Children's Hospital (I mean, nothing is), but there are a bunch of amazing performances that totally redeem it. Wheeler presents himself as a pretty superficial bro character, but then he goes in some really weird and startling directions (the eagle story, for instance, or the sleeping pills). His buddy, Ronnie, is a treat - it's wonderful to see kids swear, and Ronnie does it with style. Jane Lynch's character is the best.

I don't know if it really makes me like the movie more, but it is neat that David Wain is able to play the whole nerd LARPing thing for laughs but still give it a sympathetic portrayal. They Came Together didn't realize have characters or arcs, since everything was aping and mocking the rom-com formula, but it's neat that Role Models is able to maintain both its utter absurdity and some serious character development.