Saw Role Models, an amiable and bro-y comedy about two guys whose full-time job is apparently to drive around and shill crypto-Red Bull to highschool students. It's not really clear how this is a sustainable and actual job, but this is what the film is telling us. One of the guys is very unhappy with his life, the other is stupid and amiable and oversexed and content. After the angry one loses his girlfriend and his job all in one angry day, they wind up either having to go to jail or to mentor children. Because this is an amiable comedy, they mentor kids.
This isn't a great film, but it's not bad. Things kind of just work out in a satisfying but unearned way. The kids they mentor (a nerd and a very young, angry kid) flip from stealing their cars and screaming that they're being kidnapped to being best buds in the span of about two days. Much is made of what Problem Children they are but after that magic switch is flipped, they seem completely chill. And anyway I was kind of creeped out at the oversexed guy bonding with his mentee over how great boobs are. I always find it a little alienating when straight men bond with boys over their mutual attraction to women. I have never in my life been congratulated by a mentor-type-figure for being attracted to guys. The whole thing just seems weird and alien to me. Eh.
But like I say, this is a friendly film. It's not very believable but it's hopeful and winning, and I'll take that over indie-movie misery-porn any day. No, grand romantic gestures don't work and people don't act like they can hear the background music, but it's fun to pretend for a while anyway.
No comments:
Post a Comment