Everybody loves kids.

Especially hyperactive, bratty little kids who make your life a living hell, laughing with childish delight at your futile attempts to rope them in.

Whether it be a kid brother, a child you babysat or being stranded on public transportation, anybody can sympathize.

This is the sort of nightmare that the stars of ‘Role Models,’ directed by David Wain (‘Stella,’ ‘Wet Hot American Summer’), are dumped into.

UU Cinemas hosted an advanced screening of the movie Wednesday night to a packed crowd in Gifford Auditorium.

Despite average jokes, the auditorium erupted into laughter several times throughout the film, proving the movie to be a success for the college demographic.

Paul Rudd is a 35-year-old energy drink spokesman for Minotaur who begins the movie with a midlife crisis.

‘I’ve been doing this for 10 years,’ he cries to his friend and co-worker, Wheeler (Sean William Scott, in his typical ‘American Pie’ stint), after another day of convincing school kids to stay off drugs and stay on Minotaur, ‘poison to our nation’s youth.’

He reflects this back on society by being a pretentious jerk, channeling his inner Vince Vaughn in a coffee shop where he yells at a poor barista so badly that his lawyer girlfriend (Elizabeth Banks, ‘Zack and Miri Make a Porno’) ends up dumping him.

Naturally, he’s desperate to win her back. After crashing the company truck and getting himself and his friend arrested, he has other things to worry about. They choose community service over a month in prison, and soon enough they end up with two hyperactive little boys to grudgingly lead around.

Christopher Mintz-Plasse (‘Superbad’), who is unfortunately typecast as McLovin until the day he retires, is the obsessive role-playing nerd we all know from middle school. He is awkward and shy to everybody, including his unsympathetic parents, until he wields his duct-taped foam sword.

His peer Robbie (Bobb’e J. Thompson, ‘Fred Claus’) is the opposite, an abusive, swearing little brat with an unhealthy fixation on breasts (even at that young, tender age). The two kids are as different as night and day, and it’s unfortunate that not much is shown between them instead of between the two adults.

The sharp dialogue and witty banter is a result of how entirely comfortable the cast is with each other. It prevents the movie from becoming a letdown when the final epic battle scene rolls around. (Not to give too much away, but KISS plays a major role in a bout of comic genius.)

Rudd is a master of deadpan, never letting a double entendre slip past us, and it’s all for the better. There’s not much to write about Scott in comparison, as he plays the familiar grinning, skirt-chasing goofball we’ve come to expect. He’s just so hard to hate, though.

He finally wins over his kid with a little help from KISS. The transition between carjacking hellion and partying co-conspirator seems jarring, but the rest of the movie flows along at a quick pace.

Jane Lynch (‘The 40-Year-Old Virgin’), however, is my new personal hero, easily stealing the show by trying to outdo herself in every single scene she’s in. As the reformed addict and program founder who delights in bringing up her tragic past in every conversation, she’s so obsessed with not taking any crap that she goes over the top.

She manages to run the gamut from the overenthusiastic spokeswoman to the psychopathic boss, ready to snap at any second.

Fortunately, the script manages to stay away from a cheesy redemption theme where the two slackers learn acceptance and are motivated to become better people, along with winning the girl and riding off into the sunset as changed men – for the most part, anyway. Potty humor and breasts haven’t been shocking since ‘Animal House,’ but mercifully, Wain keeps the ending free of any Disney influence.

Overall, the movie is hampered by a clichéd story that we’ve seen before in pretty much every Adam Sandler comedy ever made. Despite this damnation, it’s absolutely hilarious and worthy of being in the same crowd as Judd Apatow’s best.

Did I mention the part about KISS?

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Published on November 5, 2008 at 12:00 pm