I keep waiting for the Paul Rudd-fronted Judd Apatow movie to be announced. After doing hilarious non-main character work in The 40 Year Old Virgin, Knocked Up, Forgetting Sarah Marshall, and, of course, Anchorman, the guy is surely going to get his sun moment in the Apatow solar system, right? Right? I’m also waiting for him to return to the Halloween franchise, but my dreams are specific and fairly sad. Until those better and brighter days arrive, I’ll have to be satisfied watching Rudd mix it up with various members of the legendary comedy group The State. Rudd, along with the increasingly busy Elizabeth Banks, seem to be unofficial members of that laugh troupe – they certainly seem to turn up in a ton of The State’s post-The State projects.
David Wain, who directed the incredibly funny Wet Hot American Summer (and the not as funny The Ten), is back behind the camera equipment for upcoming Role Models – a movie about two loserish guys (Rudd and the just-out-from-under-the-Southland Tales-rock Seann William Scott) who decide to enter a Big Brother program instead of going to prison for some kind of traffic violation. Basically, think A Tale of Two Cities with Rudd stepping into the Sydney Carton role. And then envision the exact opposite of that. And then erase all of that and head over to MTV.com (click here) to check out the silly footage. The premise certainly sounds sitcomy, and the trailer is a tiny bit on the bland side – but I seem to recall Beaks really digging the script in one of his legendary Crop Reports. Plus, there are really funny people like Kerri Kenney, Jane Lynch, and A.D. Miles bouncing around in there. So, everyone, cross your fingers and double tie your shoelaces for this one.
The movie boasts the first post-Superbad performance of Christopher Mintz-Plasse. It’ll be interesting to see if the guy can actually work within another flick or if he’ll be heading down that sad path Jon Heder trailblazed.