I Love You, ManWhen it comes to comedic ability and true underlying character depth, you don't get much better than the stars of this formulaic, yet occasionally unconventional comedy. Paul Rudd stars as self pussy-whipped real estate agent, Peter Claven. Peter has just asked his girlfriend Zooey (the very charming Rashida Jones) to marry him; only to find out that he is best man-less. After constant reminders from Zooey and her friends, as well as his dad (J.K. Simmons) and his brother Robbie (Andy Samberg); Peter decides to get back in the game - of man-dating. In comes Peter Segel as Sydney Fife. Sydney is a brash, unapologetic, womanizing loner; he loves to walk the boulevards with his dog (in his UGG boots) and jam out in his man-cave. Peter and Sydney play a very affable, yet contradictory duo -- aside from each of their fondness for Rush (who make a cameo). Unfortunately though, it seems that Zooey's desire for Peter to hit the man circuit may not have been as good of an idea as she thought it would be.
Paul Rudd has been the go-to guy in the last few years when it comes to comedies -- especially when he has one of the Apatow cronies as a wing-man (which Segel is). He has the ability to command, and to interpret the atmosphere of a scene with his apt mannerisms. In I Love You, Man, as opposed to translating awkwardness, he creates it. Which at moments is just as funny. But, that shtick kind of loses its effectiveness. Even as he becomes better friends with Sydney and more comfortable as a friend, he still brings the awkwardness. And the end result is sometimes a little too contrived. But, don't get me wrong, there are many scenes between Rudd and Segel that are quite hilarious. As well as a few scenes between Rudd and Samberg (his gay brother, who seems to have taken a liking to straight men - since the gay ones have become too easy to pick up).
Segel plays, the blow-hard, Sydney Fife with a subtle grace that very few comedic actors around, these days, could. He has just the right chemistry between his over the top antics with he ability to draw on genuine emotion. Mainly because Segel is a guy who muses his characterization from his own life (his famously hilarious scene from Forgetting Sarah Marshall, when his girlfriend breaks up with him, while he's completely naked -- yeah, that actually happened). Segel's Sydney comes off as a dead beat who enjoys flying solo and taking advantage of any opportunity that he has, but yet he's the kind of friend you can always count on. (Come on, you'd have to be a good friend to be willing to fight Lou Ferrigno, in someone else's honor.) Peter Segel is the kind of actor who rarely comes around, I doubt he's going anywhere.
I Love You, Man was a wonderfully funny, yet occasionally flawed movie. I would have loved to see Paul Rudd at the level he reached in Anchorman or Role Models, but he's a guy you can always count on to make you laugh, and he does just that. There is not enough praise I could give Segel for his role in this film
I wouldn't say the supporting cast was A-list, but they are very deserving of some recognition. Lou Ferrigno is surprisingly (yet unsurprisingly) funny as himself. Jon Favreau, Samberg, Simmons are a delight as well.
If you want to see a romantic comedy -- for bromance, then I Love You, Man is the way to go.
