Movie Review: I Love You, Man
A simple premise that makes you just want to call your best friend and tell them you love them. At one point Superbad held the candle for the ultimate “bro” love comedy that you and your best man pal can enjoy but I have to say that latest Paul Rudd/Jason Segal endeavor surpasses Superbad with its heartfelt nature. I Love You Man is a romantic comedy for dudes!
Perhaps the weirdest thing about watching this movie is that it had alot of Apatow feel to it but there was no sign of Apatow’s name anywhere in the credits neither was Apatow or his crews signature latest “cowbell” gag known as the man junk on display designed to discomfort the audience as much as possible. Perhaps the Apatow feel comes from director John Hamburg (“Along Came Polly,” co-writer of “Meet the Parents,” “Meet the Fockers,” “Zoolander”), who onced worked with Apatow in his shortlived TV show, Undeclared. Also the film being produced by Ivan Reitman’s, Montecito Picture Company, may have had something to do with why the comedy was top notch.
Perhaps the comedic success in this movie is purely the improvisational stylings of Segal and Rudd. Segal is also stylisitcally different in this movie then his Forgetting Sarah Marshall or his How I Met Your Mother character, usually giving the audience an uptight, in your face, panicked guy that you have to root for. In this affable comedy Segal plays, Sydney Fife, a loner investment guru, who trolls real estate showings to hook up with rich divorced women. Fife is a laid back, blunt guy who just simply does what he wants getting the most fun out of life combined with a charming, opinionated personality as well.
Fife meets Rudd’s character, Peter Kalven, who is just engaged and as a successful real estate agent is trying to sell, celebrity – Lou Farigno’s house. Rudd is plagued by his safe attitude but also has realized he has no close male friends he can make his “Best Man” for his wedding. Fife meets Klaven at Farigno’s house showing and after giving Klaven another customer’s fart play-by-play, a bond begins.
The two “bros” begin a series of man dates and hang out sessions that bring them closer as friends but Peter’s work and his relationship with his fiancee, Zooey (Rashida Jones), begins to suffer. The film truly explored what it means to be a friend and each joke is one that makes you smile or laugh out loud. The film never fell flat with me and had something in every scene that made me crack up, whether it be an awkward moment or just a silly situation that you can relate to. The film also has so many references that someone like me can appreciate such as a major ode to the band Rush. Also there was a great scene where, Klaven asks Fife for his Lost Season 2 DVD back mentioning that Zooey had been waiting to see what the hatch was all about.
Lastly, the film had an array of ensemble characters to keep the film fresh with laughter, including Jon Favreau playing the macho man who despite his beer gut and curly hair, has a sexy hot wife, played by Jaime Pressly. SNL fave, Andy Samberg played Rudd’s homosexual brother and J.K. Simmons, Jane Curtin and the hilarious Thomas Lennon also bring supporting flavor to the film.
There is also the array of 3 different famous comedic troupes sparradic through the film with Jay Chandrasekhar representing Broken Lizard, Joe Lo Truglio representing The Upright Citizens Brigade along with Rob Huebel who also was part of the MTV comedy sketch Human Giant with another supporting actor in the film, Aziz Ansari.
Ultimately this was a film that I laughed and enjoyed and yes its OK to tell your bro that I Love You Man!
Technical Score - 4
Critical Score - 5
Total Score - 9 out of 10
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Categories: Fused Movies, Movie Reviews
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Eliza
