The worst thing that a comedy could do is to make you bored, and Role Models certainly succeeded in boring me until the very end which was a recreated medieval pretend battle between warring “nations”. Of course, citing that as my highlight can tell you already how boring the rest of the movie was. The story follows 2 main characters: Wheeler and Danny, 2 energy drink salesmen who give talks at school about how to say no to drugs and instead get addicted to their toxic drink get into trouble and must do community service. They are paired up with 2 troubled kids and must act as a big brother/mentor.

The movie is full of visual gags, and most of the comedy from shock (such as “how dare they talk about oral sex in front of children!”) instead of real genuine jokes or gags. Role Models drags too long with the introduction of characters, especially the children. It shouldn’t take long for the audience to figure out how much of a fantasy loving geek one is, and how foul mouthed and short tempered the other one is. Instead, the bulk of the movie is focused on putting them in different situations and seeing what they will do.

The moral of the story, if any, is that any slacker can find strength within to triumph and accomplish much in life. This is exemplified by the movie’s climax where the 2 men and 2 children dress up as KISS members and participate in the medieval battle. It’s not as if the movie would have benefited from more writers, as there already were 4 on board. Instead, a much better direction would have helped the movie a lot by keeping the pace brisk and eliminating useless gags.

Rating: 45%