senorjuez

The premise of this film involves two co-workers who travel to various Los Angeles area schools doing anti-drug sales presentations for an energy drink manufacturer. Paul Rudd plays Danny, a somewhat-uptight veteran sales rep who is dissatisfied with his job and personal life. Seann William Scott plays Wheeler, a free-spirited, live-for-the-moment party animal who serves as the company mascot on these excursions. A bad choice of actions puts the two men on the wrong side of the law and to avoid jail they must volunteer in a Big Brother-like organization run by a former drug addict. Danny is paired with a nerdy outcast whose main hobby is participating in a medieval, role-playing combat game while Wheeler is given a foul-mouthed black kid who comes from a broken home and has driven away several other volunteers in a short amount of time.

At first things do not go well with these pairings, but eventually Danny and Wheeler are able to connect with the boys. This comes to an abrupt end due to a couple of errors in judgment that alienate the young boys and put Danny and Wheeler's freedom and friendship in jeopardy. During their time as mentors in the program, Danny and Wheeler both developed a sense of emotional maturity by putting the boys needs ahead of their own. They both got as much out of the experience as the boys did and are determined to make things right.

While the humor is often risqué, what really makes this a great film overall is the on-screen pairing of Paul Rudd and Seann William Scott. They worked well together even though their characters are polar opposites. I think anybody who sees Role Models will enjoy it.

I hadn't seen any of Tyler Perry's films before this one because I don't find drag comedy appealing. I didn't expect this to be a great film, but it was much worse than I could have imagined. The main reason is Madea herself. Madea is a rude, hostile, Ghetto cliché of a woman who as the opening credits demonstrated, has spent most of her adult life in and out of jail for various offenses caused by her inability to control her anger and need for revenge. After one particular incident the elderly behemoth must finally endure the consequences and serve time. Although this did not happen until about one hour into the film, I applauded because Madea is clueless to how bad her behavior is that even a trained professional like Dr. Phil couldn't get through to her. She needed to learn that she is not above the law as a sort of comeuppance.

Another reason this film was so bad was that it would frequently shift to a secondary storyline which had nothing to do with Madea. It was something of a "Pretty Woman" premise involving a legal clerk trying to rescue a childhood friend from drugs and prostitution. Every time this happened, it was like somebody getting a remote control and changing the channel. The ending does show a common thread for these story lines but it's not enough to save this train wreck of a film.

After watching Madea, I can't understand why people enjoy Tyler Perry films so much. The Ghetto factor may be the main reason people line up and pay good money to see this garbage. If that's the case, it's very sad that this is what 21st century America considers entertainment. I would have given this a minus rating if IMDb allowed it.

I was channel surfing when I first saw this film on cable. After about 5 minutes, I found it interesting enough to put down the remote to see how it ends. There is something about this tale of students at a privileged college who major in sex and drugs that reflects a part of our society that we don't want to admit is real but can't deny it either. College students and those under 40 will find the relatability factor is what captures their attention.

Portrayals of troubled people always make good drama because the intensity level is constantly high and there is no happy ending. With Rules of Attraction, the main difference is that there is no real beginning. It is similar to Pulp Fiction in this manner. The plot shows what lead to what is shown at the beginning. In other words, a full circle effect.

Since I first saw the film, I have watched it whenever I find it on cable. I wouldn't call it a favorite, but more of a guilty pleasure.