Role ModelsMovie Reviews

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Avg. Critic Score: 60 out of 100 Generally favorable reviews Metascore® based on all critic reviews
Information for Parents:
16 Iffy for 16+
Read Common Sense Media review

Critic scores range from 0 to 100, with higher scores indicating more favorable reviews.

  • 83
    Entertainment Weekly | Owen Gleiberman

    The fun of Role Models is that it's a high-concept movie executed with speed and finesse and the kind of brusquely tossed-off obscene banter that can get you laughing before you know what hit you. Read full review

  • 75
    San Francisco Chronicle | Peter Hartlaub

    A funny and twisted movie from beginning to end, closing with an emotional payoff. Read full review

  • 75
    Rolling Stone | Peter Travers

    Sometimes a shamelessly stoopid, proudly profane R-rated comedy is all you want out of life. Role Models more than fills the bill. It's killer funny. Read full review

  • 75
    USA Today | Claudia Puig

    Misfits and misanthropes are the heroes of Role Models, a surprisingly clever comedy. Read full review

  • 75
    Chicago Sun-Times | Roger Ebert

    The kind of comedy where funny people say funny things in funny situations, not the kind of comedy that whacks you with manic shocks to force an audible Pavlovian response. Read full review

  • 70
    The Hollywood Reporter |

    Rudd and Scott hail from different universes of movie comedy, but manage together here just fine, particularly since each takes a different path. Read full review

  • 70
    Variety | Dennis Harvey

    Laden with more than enough profane humor to warrant its R rating, this is nonetheless a formulaic crowd-pleaser. Read full review

  • 70
    Washington Post |

    You can probably figure out how this is all going to end, but it still has more laughs than you might think. Nobody gets more than the wonderful Jane Lynch as the ex-drug addict and director of the mentoring program. Read full review

  • 40
    Wall Street Journal | Joe Morgenstern

    Furiously raunchy, occasionally bright and eventually benumbing comedy. Read full review

  • 40
    The New York Times | Stephen Holden

    With the ferocity of a drill instructor and the boundless confidence of a self-help guru who combines psychobabble clichs with embarrassingly explicit confessions, Ms. Lynch's Gayle redeems the movie from utter banality. Read full review

View more reviews for Role Models on Metacritic

Information for Parents
Common Sense Media says Iffy for 16+ Coarse adult comedy elicits some big laughs.
What Parents Need to Know Parents need to know that even though the cast includes young kids, this crass, Judd Apatow-esque comedy about dysfunctional mentors bases much of its humor on gross-out situations, sexual innuendo (as well as a little partial nudity), and near-incessant swearing. Old, young, man, woman -- everyone seems blessed with a potty mouth. Grown-ups discuss sex and other adult topics with children, many of whom seem incorrigible and precocious. There's also some drinking and discussion of drugs. It's all played for laughs, but it's not meant for kids.
  • Families can talk about whether Danny and Wheeler are good role models. If yes, why? If not, why not?
  • How would you describe their relationships with the kids they're supposed to mentor?
  • Is their transformation believable? Families can also discuss Danny's dilemma: How can you be joyful when you feel defeated and frustrated?
  • Also, how does this movie fit in with other recent "hard-R" comedies? Is it as raunchy?
  • Do you think it's meant to appeal to the same audience?
The good stuff
  • message true0 Positive messages: Dysfunctional mentoring and parenting galore, including a couple who sees nothing wrong in verbally tearing down their son -- they make fun of his hobbies and talk about him as if he's a nerd. Men objectify women, some of whom appear to enjoy being objectified. Two men don't appear sorry for the misdeeds that land them in community service. Still, somehow, the film manages to be heartwarming, showing the transformation of two men from callow to caring.
  • rolemodels true0 Positive role models: Underneath a lot of humorous stuff two unlikely men become ROLE MODELS.
What to watch for
  • violence false2 Violence: Two friends have a heavy-duty argument and tussle with the cops. A young man participates in medieval battle reenactments that involve weaponry made out of foam. A man crashes a truck into a statue in a fit of anger, which nearly lands him and his friend in jail.
  • sex false4 Sex: Some partial nudity (breasts and a man's naked backside), which both a grown-up and a child seem to obsess over. A presumably naked couple makes out under the sheets (their bare shoulders are seen). An adult has explicit conversations about sex, offering detailed information to kids who are clearly too young for such discussions. References to a mother being a "whore." Shots of cleavage; a woman grabs a man's testicles and propositions him. A woman pushes a hot dog out of a bagel in a suggestive manner.
  • language false5 Language: As crude as can be, featuring everything from "whore" and "beeyotch" to "a--hole" and "f--k." In fact, the "F" word seems to be a favorite expletive, even among kids. One young character is particularly foul-mouthed.
  • consumerism false1 Consumerism: Mentions of Ambien and the movie Reindeer Games, plus shots of signage for a burger restaurant and the fictional energy drink company that Wheeler and Danny work for.
  • drugsalcoholtobacco false4 Drinking, drugs and smoking: A woman who's no longer a user nevertheless details her former cocaine habit whenever she gets the chance. A couple trips on Ambien. Some tongue-in-cheek discussions about why kids should avoid drugs, plus some scenes of social drinking, including around children.
An independent nonprofit dedicated to providing families the information they need to help kids thrive in a world of media and technology. © Common Sense Media Inc. 2010. All rights reserved.

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