Role Models
Encyclopedia
Role Models is a 2008
2008 in film
This is a list of all major films made in 2008.-Highest-grossing films:Please note that following the tradition of the English-language film industry, these are the top grossing films that were first released in the USA in 2008...

 American comedy film
Comedy film
Comedy film is a genre of film in which the main emphasis is on humour. They are designed to elicit laughter from the audience. Comedies are mostly light-hearted dramas and are made to amuse and entertain the audiences...

 directed by David Wain
David Wain
David Benjamin Wain is an American comedian, writer, actor and director. He is most widely known for the feature films Role Models and Wet Hot American Summer, the 1990s' sketch comedy series The State and for producing/directing/writing the Adult Swim series Childrens Hospital...

 about two energy drink
Energy drink
Energy drinks are beverages whose producers advertise that they "boost energy." These advertisements usually do not emphasize energy derived from the sugar and caffeine they contain but rather increased energy release due to a variety of stimulants and vitamins....

 salesmen who are ordered to perform 150 hours of community service
Community service
Community service is donated service or activity that is performed by someone or a group of people for the benefit of the public or its institutions....

 as punishment for various offenses. For their service, the two men work at a program designed to pair kids with adult role models. The film stars Seann William Scott
Seann William Scott
Seann William Scott is an American actor and comedian. He is best known for playing Steve Stifler in the American Pie film series...

, Paul Rudd
Paul Rudd
Paul Stephen Rudd is an American actor and screenwriter. He has primarily appeared in comedies, and is known for his roles in the films Clueless, Wet Hot American Summer, Anchorman, Halloween: The Curse of Michael Myers, The 40-Year-Old Virgin, Knocked Up, Dinner for Schmucks, The Object of My...

, Christopher Mintz-Plasse
Christopher Mintz-Plasse
Christopher Charles Mintz-Plasse is an American actor known for starring in films such as Superbad, Role Models, Year One, and Kick-Ass.-Early life:...

, Bobb'e J. Thompson, Jane Lynch
Jane Lynch
Jane Marie Lynch is an American comedian, actress and singer. She gained fame in Christopher Guest's improv mockumentary pictures such as Best in Show and is currently best known for playing the role of Sue Sylvester in the television series Glee...

, and Elizabeth Banks
Elizabeth Banks
Elizabeth Maresal Mitchell , known professionally as Elizabeth Banks, is an American actress. Banks had her film debut in the low-budget independent film Surrender Dorothy...

.

Plot

Danny (Paul Rudd
Paul Rudd
Paul Stephen Rudd is an American actor and screenwriter. He has primarily appeared in comedies, and is known for his roles in the films Clueless, Wet Hot American Summer, Anchorman, Halloween: The Curse of Michael Myers, The 40-Year-Old Virgin, Knocked Up, Dinner for Schmucks, The Object of My...

) and Wheeler (Seann William Scott
Seann William Scott
Seann William Scott is an American actor and comedian. He is best known for playing Steve Stifler in the American Pie film series...

) are two energy drink
Energy drink
Energy drinks are beverages whose producers advertise that they "boost energy." These advertisements usually do not emphasize energy derived from the sugar and caffeine they contain but rather increased energy release due to a variety of stimulants and vitamins....

 salesmen who promote a drink called "Minotaur" to school children, and encourage kids to stay off drugs. Wheeler loves the job, but Danny hates it, viewing it as a mindless, dead-end job. Danny's pessimism
Pessimism
Pessimism, from the Latin word pessimus , is a state of mind in which one perceives life negatively. Value judgments may vary dramatically between individuals, even when judgments of fact are undisputed. The most common example of this phenomenon is the "Is the glass half empty or half full?"...

 results in the collapse of his relationship with lawyer
Lawyer
A lawyer, according to Black's Law Dictionary, is "a person learned in the law; as an attorney, counsel or solicitor; a person who is practicing law." Law is the system of rules of conduct established by the sovereign government of a society to correct wrongs, maintain the stability of political...

 Beth Jones (Elizabeth Banks
Elizabeth Banks
Elizabeth Maresal Mitchell , known professionally as Elizabeth Banks, is an American actress. Banks had her film debut in the low-budget independent film Surrender Dorothy...

), after he impulsively proposes to her. After one presentation the duo find that their truck is being towed, as they were parked in a no-parking zone. They try driving the truck away from the tow truck, damaging the tow truck, nearly running over a policeman and crashing into a statue.

They are arrested. Beth strikes a deal with the judge in which they have to log 150 hours of community service over the next 30 days, in lieu of 30 days in jail. The judge selects for their community service a big-brother
Big Brothers Big Sisters of America
Big Brothers Big Sisters of America is a 501 non-profit organization whose mission is to help children reach their potential through professionally supported, one-to-one relationships with mentors that try to have a measurable impact on youth....

 style program called Sturdy Wings, led by Gayle Sweeny (Jane Lynch
Jane Lynch
Jane Marie Lynch is an American comedian, actress and singer. She gained fame in Christopher Guest's improv mockumentary pictures such as Best in Show and is currently best known for playing the role of Sue Sylvester in the television series Glee...

), a recovering addict. Gayle instantly dislikes the two and warns them that if they fail to carry out their tasks she will have them imprisoned. Wheeler is paired up with Ronnie Shields (Bobb'e J. Thompson), a foul-mouthed streetwise miscreant obsessed with breasts
Breast fetishism
Breast fetishism is a type of sexual fetish which involves a sexual interest in female breasts....

, who has driven away all the other "Bigs" he has been paired with, while Danny is assigned Augie Farcques (Christopher Mintz-Plasse
Christopher Mintz-Plasse
Christopher Charles Mintz-Plasse is an American actor known for starring in films such as Superbad, Role Models, Year One, and Kick-Ass.-Early life:...

), a nerd
Nerd
Nerd is a derogatory slang term for an intelligent but socially awkward and obsessive person who spends time on unpopular or obscure pursuits, to the exclusion of more mainstream activities. Nerds are considered to be awkward, shy, and unattractive...

y teenager obsessed with medieval live action role-playing game
Live action role-playing game
A live action role-playing game is a form of role-playing game where the participants physically act out their characters' actions. The players pursue goals within a fictional setting represented by the real world, while interacting with each other in character. The outcome of player actions may...

s.

Danny is unable to find common ground with Augie. Ronnie takes virtually no interest in Wheeler. Danny considers choosing the jail sentence, but Wheeler insists that if they go to jail, they will get raped, which Wheeler is strongly against. They gradually bond with their "littles". Ronnie takes an interest in Wheeler's favorite band, Kiss
KISS (band)
Kiss is an American rock band formed in New York City in January 1973. Well-known for its members' face paint and flamboyant stage outfits, the group rose to prominence in the mid to late 1970s on the basis of their elaborate live performances, which featured fire breathing, blood spitting,...

, and discovers that Wheeler shares his obsession with breasts. Danny and Augie bond when they realize that they are both involved in the Sturdy Wings program against their will, and as a result Danny joins Augie's live action role playing game, "LAIRE" (Live Action Interactive Role-playing Explorers). Despite their successes, Danny attempts to reconcile with Beth, but to no avail (Beth must commit to the break-up, stating that it's for the best).

However, their success is cut short. When Augie manages to sneak up on the King of LAIRE, Argotron (Ken Jeong
Ken Jeong
Kendrick Kang-Joh "Ken" Jeong , also known as "Dr. Ken," is an American comedian, actor, and physician. Currently, he appears as Ben Chang on the NBC comedy series Community.-Early life and medical career:...

), the King lies and tells everyone that he killed Augie. Danny, backing up Augie, shoves the King, and gets himself and Augie banned from LAIRE forever. Later, Danny insults Augie's mother and stepfather for refusing to support Augie's hobby, earning their animosity. As soon as Augie's parents kick Danny out of their house, Danny quips back, "I'd be psyched if he were my son." Meanwhile, Wheeler takes Ronnie to a party and leaves him unsupervised, resulting in Ronnie walking home alone and a series of angry messages from his mom on Wheeler's cell-phone. Ronnie and Augie's parents ask Sturdy Wings for new mentor
Mentor
In Greek mythology, Mentor was the son of Alcimus or Anchialus. In his old age Mentor was a friend of Odysseus who placed Mentor and Odysseus' foster-brother Eumaeus in charge of his son Telemachus, and of Odysseus' palace, when Odysseus left for the Trojan War.When Athena visited Telemachus she...

s, and Danny and Wheeler are removed from the Sturdy Wings program, thus failing to complete their community service. Beth promises to defend Danny and Wheeler in court, but cannot make any promises, as they will eventually be sent to jail. Danny and Wheeler argue and go their separate ways.

Danny convinces King Argotron to allow himself and Augie to fight that afternoon in the much-awaited Battle Royale. Wheeler gets permission from Ronnie's mother to hang out with Ronnie after he gets out of jail, and earns Ronnie's forgiveness. However, Augie's LAIRE "country" of Xanthia views him as too much of a liability, and throws him out. To form a new LAIRE country, Danny and Augie need four members and matching costumes. Danny asks Wheeler and Ronnie to join them. They arrive with Wheeler's KISS costumes, naming their new country "Kiss-My-Anthia". After a betrayal by his former Xanthian allies, Augie finally duels with the king, defeating him. A hidden player, Sarah (Allie Stamler), who goes by Esplen in LAIRE, then attacks and defeats Augie; she is crowned the new queen and chooses Augie as her king-consort. Augie's parents forgive Danny.

Impressed with having seen that Wheeler and Danny do care for the children and not simply themselves, Sweeny clears their names with the judge. Augie hits it off with Esplen, whom he has had a crush on for quite a while. Augie's also asked by Esplen if he'll be her king, which he accepts. Danny serenades Beth with a rendition of the KISS song "Beth
Beth (song)
"Beth" is a song by Kiss, originally released on their 1976 album, Destroyer. To date, it is their highest-charting single, reaching #7 on Billboard's American charts. It is one of only two Gold selling singles for the band , and their first of two Top Ten singles...

" and they finally reconcile.

Cast

  • Paul Rudd
    Paul Rudd
    Paul Stephen Rudd is an American actor and screenwriter. He has primarily appeared in comedies, and is known for his roles in the films Clueless, Wet Hot American Summer, Anchorman, Halloween: The Curse of Michael Myers, The 40-Year-Old Virgin, Knocked Up, Dinner for Schmucks, The Object of My...

     as Danny Donahue
  • Seann William Scott
    Seann William Scott
    Seann William Scott is an American actor and comedian. He is best known for playing Steve Stifler in the American Pie film series...

     as Anson Wheeler
  • Elizabeth Banks
    Elizabeth Banks
    Elizabeth Maresal Mitchell , known professionally as Elizabeth Banks, is an American actress. Banks had her film debut in the low-budget independent film Surrender Dorothy...

     as Beth Jones
  • Christopher Mintz-Plasse
    Christopher Mintz-Plasse
    Christopher Charles Mintz-Plasse is an American actor known for starring in films such as Superbad, Role Models, Year One, and Kick-Ass.-Early life:...

     as Augie Farques
  • Bobb'e J. Thompson as Ronnie Shields
  • Jane Lynch
    Jane Lynch
    Jane Marie Lynch is an American comedian, actress and singer. She gained fame in Christopher Guest's improv mockumentary pictures such as Best in Show and is currently best known for playing the role of Sue Sylvester in the television series Glee...

     as Gayle Sweeney
  • Ken Jeong
    Ken Jeong
    Kendrick Kang-Joh "Ken" Jeong , also known as "Dr. Ken," is an American comedian, actor, and physician. Currently, he appears as Ben Chang on the NBC comedy series Community.-Early life and medical career:...

     as King Argotron
  • Kerri Kenney-Silver
    Kerri Kenney-Silver
    Kerri Kenney-Silver is an American actress, comedian, singer and writer best known as a cast member on MTV's The State and for her role as Deputy Trudy Wiegel on the Comedy Central series, Reno 911!.-Early life:...

     as Lynette Farcques
  • Ken Marino
    Ken Marino
    Kenneth Joseph "Ken" Marino is an American actor, comedian, director and screenwriter. He was a cast member on MTV's The State and on the Starz comedy Party Down. He currently co-stars on the Adult Swim series Childrens Hospital.-Early life and career:Marino was born in West Islip, New York to an...

     as Jim Stansel
  • Nicole Randall Johnson
    Nicole Randall Johnson
    Nicole Randall Johnson is an American comic actress. Johnson is most notable for her membership in the recurring cast of comedians on sketch comedy series MADtv.- Biography and education :...

     as Karen Shields
  • A.D. Miles as Martin Gary
  • Joe Lo Truglio
    Joe Lo Truglio
    Joseph "Joe" Lo Truglio is an American actor, writer and comedian best known for his work as a cast member on the cult MTV sketch comedy series The State...

     as Michael Kuzzik
  • Vincent Martella
    Vincent Martella
    Vincent Michael Martella is an American teen actor and singer. He is best known for his role as Greg Wuliger on the UPN/CW sitcom Everybody Hates Chris, and for the voice of Phineas Flynn in Disney Channel's original animated show Phineas and Ferb...

     as Artonius Kuzzik
  • Matt Walsh as Davith of Glencracken
  • Allie Stamler as Sarah/Queen Esplen
  • Jessica Morris
    Jessica Morris
    Jessica Morris is an American actress.-Career:After several small film and television roles, Morris was cast as the dysfunctional Jennifer "Jen" Rappaport Vega Balsom Buchanan on the ABC soap opera, One Life to Live, a role she portrayed from 2001 to 2005. Morris reappeared as Jennifer in a dream...

     as Linda the Teacher
  • Carly Craig
    Carly Craig
    Carly Craig is an actress known for starring in films such as 2008's Role Models and 2011's Hall Pass,among others.-External links:...

     as Connie
  • Keegan-Michael Key
    Keegan-Michael Key
    Keegan-Michael Key is an American comic actor best known for his roles as a cast member on MADtv for six seasons. He has also had recurring roles on Reno 911! and Gary Unmarried. He used to be the host of The Planet's Funniest Animals...

     as Duane
  • Amanda Righetti
    Amanda Righetti
    Amanda Righetti is an American actress and film producer. She is best known for her roles in The Mentalist, Friday the 13th and The O.C. In 2008, Righetti was the winner of the Best Actress award at the New York International Independent Film Video Festival for the Short Film category.-Early...

     as Isabel
  • Jorma Taccone
    Jorma Taccone
    Jorma Christopher Taccone is an American comedy writer-actor-director. Taccone is one third of the sketch comedy troupe The Lonely Island along with childhood friends Andy Samberg and Akiva Schaffer...

     as Mitch from Graphics
  • Armen Weitzman as Party Dude
  • Elijah Polanco as Ronnie's Friend
  • Nate Hartley
    Nate Hartley
    Nathan Daniel "Nate" Hartley is an American actor. He is best known for his starring role as Wade in Drillbit Taylor.-Early life:...

     as Rule master

Production

The film was originally announced in December 2006 under the title Big Brothers, with Luke Greenfield
Luke Greenfield
Luke Greenfield is an American film director. Greenfield was born in Manhasset, New York and was raised in Westport, Connecticut. He is best known for directing The Animal and The Girl Next Door. In July 2007, he appeared as a guest judge on the filmmaking reality show On the Lot...

 directing and Timothy Dowling writing the script. A January 22, 2007, draft of the script credits Moses Port and David Guarascio as writers, with no listing of Dowling. During promotion for the film Knocked Up
Knocked Up
Knocked Up is a 2007 American romantic comedy drama film co-produced, written, and directed by Judd Apatow. Starring Seth Rogen, Katherine Heigl, Paul Rudd, and Leslie Mann, the film follows the repercussions of a drunken one-night stand between Rogen's slacker character and Heigl's just-promoted...

, Paul Rudd revealed that shooting on Big Brothers was on hiatus while the script was being retooled. News was later revealed that Rudd was commissioned to write a new draft of the script and David Wain
David Wain
David Benjamin Wain is an American comedian, writer, actor and director. He is most widely known for the feature films Role Models and Wet Hot American Summer, the 1990s' sketch comedy series The State and for producing/directing/writing the Adult Swim series Childrens Hospital...

 had signed on to direct. Wain later revealed the film was now titled Little Big Men. UniversalPictures.com listed the film under the final title Role Models, which made its release on November 7, 2008. It was pre-screened at the University of Maryland's Hoff Theater on October 30, 2008 to positive accord.

A running gag
Running gag
A running gag, or running joke, is a literary device that takes the form of an amusing joke or a comical reference and appears repeatedly throughout a work of literature or other form of storytelling....

 in the movie is a song entitled "Love Take Me Down (to the Streets)", which is claimed by one character to be by the band Wings
Wings (band)
Wings were a British-American rock group formed in 1971 by Paul McCartney, Denny Laine and Linda McCartney that remained active until 1981....

. In the initial scene at the Sturdy Wings building, Martin begins singing the song, which he claims is "one of their hits from the 70s", a fact which Danny denies. This is a minor recurring joke throughout the film. During the credits, the song plays and is listed on the film soundtrack as being performed by "Not Wings." The song was written by Charles Gansa, a composer who worked on the film, and A. D. Miles
A. D. Miles
Anthony David Miles , best known as A. D. Miles, is an American actor, writer and comedian who is best known as Marty Shonson on Comedy Central's Dog Bites Man...

, who plays Martin in the film. It was written to imitate the style of the music of Wings. The singer who performed the song was Joey Curatolo, a Paul McCartney
Paul McCartney
Sir James Paul McCartney, MBE, Hon RAM, FRCM is an English musician, singer-songwriter and composer. Formerly of The Beatles and Wings , McCartney is listed in Guinness World Records as the "most successful musician and composer in popular music history", with 60 gold discs and sales of 100...

 soundalike who performs in the Beatles
The Beatles
The Beatles were an English rock band, active throughout the 1960s and one of the most commercially successful and critically acclaimed acts in the history of popular music. Formed in Liverpool, by 1962 the group consisted of John Lennon , Paul McCartney , George Harrison and Ringo Starr...

 tribute band RAIN – A Tribute to The Beatles.

Box office performance

Film Release date Box office revenue Box office ranking Budget Reference
United States United States International Worldwide All time United States All time worldwide
Role Models November 2008 $67,294,270 $25,086,657 $92,380,927 #839 Unknown $28,000,000

Role Models opened at #2 behind Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa with $19,167,085 in ticket sales. The film made a total of $67,300,955 domestically and $25,201,210 in foreign countries, for a total of $92,502,165 worldwide.

Critical reception

Film Rotten Tomatoes
Rotten Tomatoes
Rotten Tomatoes is a website devoted to reviews, information, and news of films—widely known as a film review aggregator. Its name derives from the cliché of audiences throwing tomatoes and other vegetables at a poor stage performance...

Metacritic
Metacritic
Metacritic.com is a website that collates reviews of music albums, games, movies, TV shows and DVDs. For each product, a numerical score from each review is obtained and the total is averaged. An excerpt of each review is provided along with a hyperlink to the source. Three colour codes of Green,...

Entertainment Weekly
Entertainment Weekly
Entertainment Weekly is an American magazine, published by the Time division of Time Warner, that covers film, television, music, broadway theatre, books and popular culture...

All Critics Top Critics Audience
Role Models 77% (154 reviews) 68% (34 reviews) 75% (249,466 reviews) 60/100 (31 reviews) B+


Reviews for the film have been generally positive with the comedy receiving a "certified fresh" rating of 76% positive based on 115 reviews at review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes
Rotten Tomatoes
Rotten Tomatoes is a website devoted to reviews, information, and news of films—widely known as a film review aggregator. Its name derives from the cliché of audiences throwing tomatoes and other vegetables at a poor stage performance...

. In their year end review, IGN
IGN
IGN is an entertainment website that focuses on video games, films, music and other media. IGN's main website comprises several specialty sites or "channels", each occupying a subdomain and covering a specific area of entertainment...

 awarded Role Models with "Best Comedy Film of 2008". Eye Weekly
Eye Weekly
Eye Weekly was a free weekly newspaper published in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It was owned by Torstar, the parent company of the Toronto Star, and was published by their Star Media Group until its final issue on May 5, 2011. The following week, Torstar launched a successor publication, The Grid.-...

 selected Role Models as one of the best films of 2008.

The Rotten Tomatoes consensus said, "Role Models is a frequently crude, always funny comedy with the cast providing solid work throughout."

Home media

The DVD was released on March 10, 2009 selling 1,028,207 during its first week generating $17,469,237 in revenue. As of August 10, 2011 the DVD has sold 2,555,713 copies and over $40 million in revenue.

The DVD includes:
  • Audio commentary
    Audio commentary
    On disc-based video formats, an audio commentary is an additional audio track consisting of a lecture or comments by one or more speakers, that plays in real time with video...

     by director Wain - theatrical version
  • Deleted scenes and alternate scenes
    Deleted scene
    In Entertainment, especially the film and television industry, Deleted scenes are parts of a film removed or censored from or replaced by another scene in the final "cut", or version, of a film...

  • 4 featurettes
  • Blooper
    Blooper
    A blooper, also known as an outtake or boner is a short sequence of a film or video production, usually a deleted scene, containing a mistake made by a member of the cast or crew. It also refers to an error made during a live radio or TV broadcast or news report, usually in terms of misspoken words...

    s


The Blu-ray features all of the DVD features with U-Control and BD Live Features.
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