Role Models
2008 · Directed by David Wain
Original language: English
- comedy
The story
Two salesmen trash a company truck on an energy drink-fueled bender. Upon their arrest, the court gives them a choice: do hard time or spend 150 service hours with a mentorship program. After one day with the kids, however, jail doesn't look half bad.
What it’s like
Bright, flat suburban daylight over sun-washed parking lots, strip malls and tidy cul-de-sacs, with a warm, saturated comedy look that never lingers on anything grim. Camera work is brisk and mostly conventional, with lots of two-shots and reaction cuts during the bickering, then looser handheld energy when the group spills into the woods for a fantasy-role-playing set piece lit by lantern glow and campfire orange. The score is light and bouncy, built on guitar riffs and pop cues, and the dialogue is fast and rowdy, full of improvised one-liners and overlapping banter. The vibe is scrappy, irreverent and feel-good, the kind of thing for a lazy weekend afternoon, a rewatch with friends, or a sofa evening when you want to laugh without thinking much. Pacing is quick and episodic, with crude jokes, sweary insults and a few mild sexual innuendos, but the violence is slapstick and nothing is truly threatening. Its arc is two self-centred, cynical men slowly softening through the kids they're meant to mentor. It's for people who want raucous, low-stakes comedy with an affectionate heart and a generous streak of absurdity.
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