'Role Models' review

Seann William Scott (Credit: Sam Urdank/Universal)

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After Danny (Paul Rudd)—a curmudgeon whose girlfriend (Elizabeth Banks) dumps him for refusing to grow up—and sex-crazed bonehead Wheeler (Seann William Scott) are arrested, the pair become court-appointed mentors to two difficult, unusual kids. The clients: a socially awkward fan of live-action role-playing (Christopher Mintz-Plasse of “Superbad”) and a 10-year-old (Bobb’E J. Thompson, hysterical) whose mouth is dirtier than Wheeler’s sense of humor.

The buzz: We’re psyched. Rudd’s almost always hilarious—except in stuff like “Over Her Dead Body,” which wasn’t his fault—and deserves to star in sweetly raunchy comedies like this. And the fact that he rewrote the script with help from David Wain and Ken Marino (“Wet Hot American Summer”) makes it that much better.

The verdict: With plenty of heart, constant laughs and a bring-it-on greeting to its well-deserved R rating, this is close to an ideal studio comedy, and one that’s very Apatow-ian in its focus on guys who need to wake up and smell the present. “Models” features all the right people doing all the right things and proves that you can show morons who actually learn something, from kids who actually seem modern and real—bumps, foul mouths and all. A few bits slide into mean-spiritedness, but otherwise the film—which isn’t judgmental of people’s quirks or mistakes—is all in good fun.

Did you know? Wheeler explains that men have a fascination with breasts simply because they’re overwhelmed by the fact that, mathematically, there are “two boobs for each guy.” Be sure to bring this up next time you’re talking to a sociologist at a party.

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