big brothers Tagged Articles at Cinematical

It's taken a few years and a few name changes, but Role Models -aka- Big Brothers -aka- Little Big Men is on its way, and MTV has posted the first series of shots (one of which you can see above), as well as the brand new trailer (see below). The film, which has slowly come together over the last few years, focuses on two partiers who get court-appointed community service which they have to complete as, fittingly, Big Brothers. You know, being a role model can help them get back on track themselves.

Paul Rudd and Seann William Scott are the men, while McLovin/Christopher Mintz-Plasse and Bobb'e J. Thompson are the lucky recipients of Rudd and Scott's efforts. Is it just me, or does McLovin look ridiculsouly young in the other images? Maybe it's the cape... I've little doubt that Rudd will be awesome, and this movie could be great. But what about Scott? Will this help refocus and fire up his career?

He will always be "McLovin", but at least newcomer Christopher Mintz-Plasse has found another role to follow-up his hilarious debut in Superbad. The actor told Moviehole in an interview hat he has been cast in Little Big Men alongside comedy vets Paul Rudd and Sean William Scott. This is apparently the movie formerly known as Big Brothers, which was written by Timothy Dowling (George Lucas in Love) and which was to be directed by Luke Greenfield (The Girl Next Door). According to Mintz-Plasse, though, Little Big Men will now be helmed by Wet Hot American Summer and The Ten director David Wain. The movie's plot involves two wild and crazy guys who end up sentenced to community service in the form of the Big Brothers mentoring program. Why a judge would think a couple of party boys would be suitable mentors to kids is beyond me (the program does have very strict guidelines against drug users, and I'm sure these guys are probably potheads), but it should at least make for some funny situations.

It isn't clear what kind of role Mintz-Plasse will have (the mentored kid, perhaps?), but I see him having difficulty shedding his persona as Fogel/McLovin, which was so perfect I almost found the guy funnier than Michael Cera. The actor may end up like Napoleon Dynamite's Jon Heder, who similarly came on the scene with a quirky, imitable character and has had trouble finding another movie that audiences accept him in (he succeeded marginally by co-starring with Will Ferrell in Blades of Glory). Interestingly enough, Heder even played a Big Brother in School for Scoundrels -- at least, his character was in the program until being let go for being too much of a loser. If Mintz-Plasse can join the ranks of Wain's usual crop of collaborators -- which spans the State/Stella/Reno 911! crowd and the Apatow/Stiller "Frat Pack" group -- then he should be able to make a decent career for himself.

Paul Rudd has had a pretty interesting career so far. He's been in a wide cross-section of films including romantic comedies like Clueless and The 40 Year Old Virgin, dramas like The Cider House Rules and The Shape of Things (co-starring the super-hot Rachel Weisz) and even a Shakespearean romance in the case of Baz Luhrmann's Romeo + Juliet. There's a lot more and together they make-up a pretty impressive list of credits. Even if the films he was in were, in some cases, not-so-good, Rudd managed to stand out and deliver consistently good performances -- many times rising above his material. Can you tell I'm a fan of his work? Probably can.

Good news for me and any other Rudd fans out there then because, according to Production Weekly, Rudd has just agreed to jump on-board director Luke Greenfield's comedy Big Brothers and will co-star in the film with Seann William Scott, who's already been cast (which our own Erik wrote about before). The film, scripted by Timothy Dowling, tells the story of two self-centered thirtysomething men whose lives consist of an endless series of parties, girls and lack of responsibility -- in short, they're living the frat boy dream 24/7. Unfortunately, as sometimes happens, one of their parties gets out of hand and they end up in court. Instead of jail, however, a judge orders them to become part of the Big Brothers program to work off their community service.

As a former fraternity member myself, I can admit that I occasionally think about what life would be like if I could just chuck all responsibility and live from one party to the next. Luckily, I had my share of fun in college so I don't miss those days too much. However, movies like this and Old School definitely bring back some good memories and help me cope with the withdrawal from constant fun. Plus, I'm a fan of Rudd and his work so I think this movie might be one to check out when it hits theaters. Production on Big Brothers is tentatively set to start in April.