The capsule summary of "Role Models" on Xfinity TV is, "Forced to join a mentorship program, two irresponsible men (Seann William Scott, Paul Rudd) must help a pair of impressionable boys navigate the troubled waters of youth." That description sounds like a smarmy physical comedy derivative with cheap scatological bits. Except that Xfinity gave it a rating of 3 out of 4 stars, so I decided to take a look at it.
To my pleasure, the film turned out to be a much more sophisticated movie. The two men, who are allowed to do community service instead of jail, are assigned to a big brother type program. The more intellectual of the two men, Danny, who is disillusioned with the world, is assigned to an immature teen who doesn't fit in with his peers; instead he devotes himself to participation in an on-going Dungeons and Dragons type reenactment played by a mixed group of adults and children who and his job. Wheeler, a care-free womanizer, is assigned a tough young foul-mouthed kid with whom no previous volunteer had lasted more than one day. The story shows the changes the interactions of the two "Littles" and their "Bigs"have on each other. There are a number of cheap double entendre sexual references, but they don't diminish the film too much.
To my pleasure, the film turned out to be a much more sophisticated movie. The two men, who are allowed to do community service instead of jail, are assigned to a big brother type program. The more intellectual of the two men, Danny, who is disillusioned with the world, is assigned to an immature teen who doesn't fit in with his peers; instead he devotes himself to participation in an on-going Dungeons and Dragons type reenactment played by a mixed group of adults and children who and his job. Wheeler, a care-free womanizer, is assigned a tough young foul-mouthed kid with whom no previous volunteer had lasted more than one day. The story shows the changes the interactions of the two "Littles" and their "Bigs"have on each other. There are a number of cheap double entendre sexual references, but they don't diminish the film too much.