What We're Watching

REVIEW
There's nothing really wrong with slacker comedies, just as there's nothing wrong with peanut M and Ms.

The problems really set in when you're forced to guzzle down about 4,000 in just under a minute.

The success of actors such as Seth Rogen has turned the thirty-something life lesson genre into the best way for studio execs to fund their Frappuccino habit. As a result, it's easy to write off Role Models as an identikit romp which will leave you as jaded as a veteran tea cup ride tester.

That's not entirely fair. Paul Rudd and Seann William Scott are just the right side of endearing as the two slackers dumped in a mentoring programme by the courts after wrecking their work truck.

Christopher Mintz-Plasse plays the geek role with conviction again, Bobb'e J Thompson adds spark as the unruly Ronnie, and Jane Lynch is great as the group leader with the dodgy past.

More directors than you'd care to list have tried to cook with close-to-the-knuckle banter, slapstick and cringe-worthy escapades, but Role Models feels a lot fresher and more relaxed than these formula casseroles.

It's got less unexpected twists and turns than a matchstick, but it's still soothingly funny.