Editor’s note: We have already reviewed I Love You, Man on our 1st podcast, but here is a text review. Enjoy!
When I first saw the trailers for I Love You, Man, I thought this movie would be comedy gold. Starring the always hilarious Paul Rudd (Role Models) and Jason Segel (Forgetting Sarah Marshall) and featuring supporting performances by Andy Samberg, Rashida Jones, Jamie Pressly, J.K. Simmons, and Rush (!) , I had tremendously high hopes for this film. Despite the fact that it was co-written and directed by John Hamburg, whose last comedic attempt was the disastrous Along Came Polly, I went into the theater hoping for Apatow-esque levels of laughter. Instead, I Love You, Man is a wholly different film from the one I expected, but it still delivers a significant amount of laughs. Instead of being a hard-R comedy as the trailers and TV spots would have you believe, I Love You, Man is more of a romantic comedy with hard language than a straight comedy. As a result, there is a lot of sentimentality and heart in this film, some of which comes at the expense of laughter.
I Love You, Man recounts the story of Peter Klaven (Rudd) an average real estate agent who can easily relate to women, but is painfully awkward around men. After proposing to his girlfriend (Jones), he realizes that he doesn’t have a best friend to be his best man. This laborious set up sets the film in motion, and Peter sets out to find “bromance” through a series of man-dates. Eventually, Peter meets Sydney Fife (Segel), an investor that seemingly is a man’s man. Sydney is quick to give out nicknames, loves Rush, and openly talks about his sexual exploits. These scenes between Rudd and Segel are fantastic, and you can clearly tell that the two actors were having a tremendous amount of fun making this movie. Their chemistry is perfect, striking a balance between their honest friendship and the homoerotic undertones that is the basis for much of the comedy. The conversations between Rudd and Jones also come across as honest and realistic-giving the film some heart.
The setup is not strong enough to carry the entire film, but it does provide various moments of hilarity and great one liners. Paul Rudd’s “Slappin da bass!” is a great line. There is a gag involving billboards that is absolutely hilarious. Jamie Pressly and Jon Favreau are exceptional as a bickering couple that are obsessed with sex. Segel also has some fantastic one-liners. However, the problem is that the film meanders, and there are stretches of bland, humorless sentimentality. It also fails to make full use of the great cast. Rashida Jones and Andy Samberg, both of whom have TV comedy pedigree, are underutilized and don’t really have many jokes written for them, but they both somehow provide comedy. Jones and Samberg are clearly funny people, and this natural charm and humor carries over onto the big screen.
One negative aspect that I must point out is that the film has a few bizarre sideplots, the main one involving the selling of Lou Ferrigno’s home, which add little to film. Aside from this, the film is utterly predictable, giving it the feel of a generic rom-com. In fact, this movie is very similar in pacing and tone to many romantic comedies, from its predictable plot, to its tameness (while its an R movie, its solely from adult language- there is no nudity or violence), to its **nonspoiler alert** happy ending that you see from a mile away.
These criticisms may seem harsh but they don’t detract very much from the film. I Love You, Man is a great comedy with romantic elements that is a perfect date movie-one that both sexes could enjoy. Rudd and Segel are great, and the supporting cast turns nice performances as well.
7.5 out of 10
Did you see the film? What did you think?
-Peter Robau