I love Paul Rudd and I’m beginning to really like Jason Segal too. Those two would be cool to be friends with, I’m sure. I Love You, Man is about a newly-engaged man who finds himself getting ready for a wedding which he doesn’t have a best man for. Thing is, Peter (Paul Rudd) has always been a girlfriend guy; he makes friends with girls easily and has never had any real guy friends. When eavesdropping on ladies-night, he hears his fiancé’s (Rashida Jones) friends talk about how weird that is. Completely embarrassed Peter goes on a mission to make man friends. Cut to a montage of awkward man dates (all of which are funny) till he meets Sidney Fife (Jason Segal) at an open house he is throwing to sell Luc Ferrigno’s (playing himself) mansion. Sidney is a master at reading people. He readily points out to Peter a guy who is trying to hold back a fart. We all look on enraptured by Sidney’s keen observance of the human scene.
This movie is the vein of ‘Forgetting Sarah Marshall,’ Jason Segal’s last movie, in that most of the characters are nice people who spend their time on screen being wonderful to each other. If for some reason you don’t find the movie funny (which probably won’t happen) there is no reason to hate it. All the characters are likable (except Jon Favreau’s grumpy guy, but he still is funny, so is still welcome). There is the likable Andy Samburg (SNL) who plays Peter’s gay brother, and thus is perfect for advising him how to take out a guy. There is the likable J.K. Simmons (Spiderman, Juno) who plays Peter’s dad, who talks mostly about how his gay son is his best friend. Rashida Jones plays Peter’s fiancé and she is every bit as sweet as he is. Sidney Fife, although uncouth, is undoubtedly a great friend. Rounding out the cast in small supporting roles is Jane Curtain, the gay dude from Reno 911, and stock Apatow bit player Joe Lo Trugilio (who might just break the record for creating distinct characters with only minutes of screen time in each movie he is in.) The movie ends with a wedding where everyone tells each other that they love each other. It is completely believable. I love these guys too.
The curious thing about all these bromantic comedies is that they seem to feel the need to be Rated R. It’s probably in order to save face in lieu of their obvious emotional core, that and swearing is funny. But despite the R, there is really nothing here that I would feel weird showing a preteen. There’s absolutely no violence or sex. I’m not sure I care whether people say the F-word any more.
This movie was written and directed by John Hamburg (previously unknown to me). It must have cost little to nothing. I wonder if that’s Luc Ferrigno’s house in the picture. It does have a huge sculpture of him in it. Either they borrowed it or it’s the most expensive thing in the picture. Some movies you can tell that the author is speaking through the characters (Like say in Woody Allen, Coen Brothers, Mamet, and Shakespeare movies.) Not so in this movie. I have trouble even imagining the words spoken in this movie on a script page. Everything thing just seems so natural and realistic. It sounds even more naturalistic than a Christopher Guest movie (Mighty Wind, Best in Show) and they don’t even have scripts. It really seems like Paul Rudd is just making up the words as he goes. I have trouble believing that someone actually wrote down the words “jobin” or “totos magatos.” If someone actually did, then Paul Rudd is truly a great actor because that guy just makes it seem so easy. The situations in the movie are also dangerously close to real life. Whether its Peter trying to introduce his favorite band, Rush, to his fiancé on crappy laptop speakers, or when he tries to crack mannish jokes that turn out incredibly awkward, or the travails of playing sports with women, or when he asks for his Lost Season 2 DVD’s back because he wants to find out what happens in the hatch. Like I said, I had trouble hearing any voice from the writer because everything seemed so real. I’ve seen a lot of movies. I almost never say that.
If anything is stopping this movie from being great it is its lack of any real antagonist. Like I said, everyone is basically really nice. It wasn’t like ‘Forgetting Sarah Marshall’ where at least the ex-girlfriend had been a jerk. Here the worst thing done is a toast by Sidney Fife, which concerns a topic I wouldn’t for a million years give away because it happens to be the funniest moment in the movie.
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