Role Models
Posted: Sat Nov 08, 2008 4:34 am
I saw Role Models last night and it was an interesting experience. The theater had more kids in it than for any R-rated film I can recall seeing in a long time, and it wasn't tweens sneaking in. It was parents rather proudly taking their children to a "family" outing. Of course, that didn't stop a couple of them from storming out of the theater in a huff, one of whom was audibly demanding her money back as she left.
This is a R-rated film for a good reason. It is filled with profanity (especially dozens of references to the F-word, a good number of them being voiced by a 10-year-old boy). There is a fair amount of female and male nudity to boot (adults, not kids or teens).I thought the movie was hilarious in spots, but I knew about it going in and apparently a lot of parents didn't and were basing their decisions solely on the commercials and general theme of the film. This isn't the same thing as the idiots who drag their toddlers to see something like Saw; they know what's in the movie and just don't care. This was parents who really had no idea what they were going to see.
It is certainly possible to make a PG-rated comedy on the same general theme of a couple of hapless losers finding meaning in their lives by helping kids find meaning in theirs, and the film's choice of a real life medieval role playing game as a major setting is original and entertaining, but this movie was not intended for children. It's the same level material as a typical Judd Apatow comedy.
This is a R-rated film for a good reason. It is filled with profanity (especially dozens of references to the F-word, a good number of them being voiced by a 10-year-old boy). There is a fair amount of female and male nudity to boot (adults, not kids or teens).I thought the movie was hilarious in spots, but I knew about it going in and apparently a lot of parents didn't and were basing their decisions solely on the commercials and general theme of the film. This isn't the same thing as the idiots who drag their toddlers to see something like Saw; they know what's in the movie and just don't care. This was parents who really had no idea what they were going to see.
It is certainly possible to make a PG-rated comedy on the same general theme of a couple of hapless losers finding meaning in their lives by helping kids find meaning in theirs, and the film's choice of a real life medieval role playing game as a major setting is original and entertaining, but this movie was not intended for children. It's the same level material as a typical Judd Apatow comedy.