Movie Reviews: Role Models, King Arthur, and Othello

Role Models (2008) is one of the funniest movies I've watched in a long time. I was laughing out loud throughout the whole movie, which is something I normally don't do. Paul Rudd and Seann William Scott play two energy drink salesmen who are sentenced to community service to avoid jail time, and end up in a mentoring program with two young misfits. One is the shy, nerdy Auggie who's overly involved in a live action role playing game, and the other is sassy, potty-mouthed Ronnie who has most of the best lines in the movie. I don't want to say any more so I don't ruin the laughs for anyone who hasn't seen it yet. If you haven't, rent it very soon.

King Arthur (2004), starring Clive Owen and Kiera Knightly, is a movie that explores who Arthur would have been if he were a real historical figure. In this adaptation, he's a knight of the Roman empire as it is falling and the Roman armies are fleeing the British isles. Lawlessness erupts and Arthur stays in England to fight in hopes of restoring order. It's a well done movie, but Blockbuster sent me the "directors cut" which means it was overly long. However, it was a nice surprise to see Ray Stevenson as one of Arthur's knights. Stevenson was one of the stars in the HBO series Rome which totally rocked. I recommend both this movie and HBO's Rome.

Othello (1995) was surprisingly enjoyable to watch. I'm not a Shakespeare buff by any means, but I think I was able to enjoy it because they cut out about half of the original text (and let's face it, that's where we all lose interest after a while). I couldn't understand the meaning every single spoken line, but I was able to follow the story very easily. It stars Laurence Fishburne as the jealous and untrusting Othello and Kenneth Branagh as the dastardly Iago. Rent this if you're in the mood to try out a Shakespeare flick.