With "Wet Hot American Summer" being one of my favorite movies and Paul Rudd being one of my favorite actors, I've often been plagued by two unanswered questions: could the crew behind "Wet Hot" create a successful mainstream comedy outside of their quirky niche and and can Rudd play a credible comedic leading man as opposed to just the funny best friend? This movie provides a satisfying "Hellz Yeah" to both those queries. The story sacrifices none of the ridiculous humor of David Wain and company yet also manages to be, dare I say it, heartwarming. Rudd is completely unselfish, willing to let his more outlandish co-stars have some of the real zingers so he can do the (reasonably) heavy lifting dramatic stuff necessary to move the plot along while still giving every funny line his pitch perfect delivery. As a result, Seann William Scott has to do minimal of the aforementioned meaty stuff and can be off to the side, contributing more by his great chemistry with Rudd and with young Bobb'e J. Thompson, who is unquestionably the breakout star as the foulmouthed pre-teen. Jane Lynch is also hysterical and Christopher Mintz-Plasse actually really impressed me by not doing a complete 180 from his "McLovin" character, but showing he can deviate from that one role. The fact that Rudd and Scott's characters start the movie as SUCH assholes (Rudd's in particular) makes their ultimate redemption more applause-worthy, and you don't mind that yeah, sure, maybe it happened a little too quickly. All in all, throw in the running KISS gags, the cast of "The State" playing just about every supporting role and Rudd once again being romantically paired with "Wet Hot" makeout buddy the delightful Elizabeth Banks, and this is my favorite movie in quite some time.
Saturday, November 8, 2008
Paragraph Movie Reviews: Role Models
With "Wet Hot American Summer" being one of my favorite movies and Paul Rudd being one of my favorite actors, I've often been plagued by two unanswered questions: could the crew behind "Wet Hot" create a successful mainstream comedy outside of their quirky niche and and can Rudd play a credible comedic leading man as opposed to just the funny best friend? This movie provides a satisfying "Hellz Yeah" to both those queries. The story sacrifices none of the ridiculous humor of David Wain and company yet also manages to be, dare I say it, heartwarming. Rudd is completely unselfish, willing to let his more outlandish co-stars have some of the real zingers so he can do the (reasonably) heavy lifting dramatic stuff necessary to move the plot along while still giving every funny line his pitch perfect delivery. As a result, Seann William Scott has to do minimal of the aforementioned meaty stuff and can be off to the side, contributing more by his great chemistry with Rudd and with young Bobb'e J. Thompson, who is unquestionably the breakout star as the foulmouthed pre-teen. Jane Lynch is also hysterical and Christopher Mintz-Plasse actually really impressed me by not doing a complete 180 from his "McLovin" character, but showing he can deviate from that one role. The fact that Rudd and Scott's characters start the movie as SUCH assholes (Rudd's in particular) makes their ultimate redemption more applause-worthy, and you don't mind that yeah, sure, maybe it happened a little too quickly. All in all, throw in the running KISS gags, the cast of "The State" playing just about every supporting role and Rudd once again being romantically paired with "Wet Hot" makeout buddy the delightful Elizabeth Banks, and this is my favorite movie in quite some time.
Can't wait to see this!
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