103) I Love You, Man

I Love You, Man (2009)

Director: John Hamburg

Starring: Paul Rudd, Jason Segel, Rashida Jones, Sarah Burns, Jaime Pressly, Jon Favreau, Andy Samberg, J.K. Simmons, Jane Curtin, Lou Ferrigno

It was Sunday night, Kate was reading a magazine, I had nothing to do and I don't like Dancing with the Stars or CSI. A DVD and a big bowl of ice-cream sounded pretty good. I enjoyed The 40 Year Old Virgin a few weeks ago so thought another comedy was what I was after to finish the weekend.

Real estate agent Peter Klaven (Rudd) has never had any real male friends. He's always been more of a girlfriends kind of guy. That has never been an issue until he gets engaged to his girlfriend Zooey (Jones) who is convinced by her friends that his lack of male friends will result in him becoming a very clingy and pathetic husband, not to mention the wedding looking a bit lopsided when she has six bridesmaids and he doesn't even have a best man. So Peter sets out on a mission to find a friend. After a number of awkward encounters and man-dates Peter meets Sydney Fife (Segel) at an open house he is hosting. The two hit it off and quickly become very good friends. But this friendship takes on an intensity that Zooey never anticipated and soon starts to jeopardise their relationship.

I Love You, Man is a truly cringe worthy movie, but I mean that in the best possible way. The film is absolutely packed with comical awkward moments designed to make you uncomfortable. Kate is no good with awkwardness so she had to get up and leave the room a couple of times during the film. Paul Rudd does amazing awkward. He makes an art form out of it with this film. Once he steps out of his comfort zone on his endeavour to find a friend he does an amazing job of never quite hitting the mark (the character that is, not the performance). He gets the timing perfect, just talking for that little bit too long, not knowing when to let a joke go, not knowing when to just shut his mouth. Segel's Sydney is the exact opposite, a man comfortable in himself almost to a fault. There are some things you just don't have to be open and honest about. The two of them make a great odd couple, but a complementary odd couple rather than a oppositional odd couple.

This is not one of the best comedies to come out over the last few years, but it is above average and I have a real soft spot for it because I'm a real fan of Rudd and Segel. I much prefer those two to Seth Rogen or Jonah Hill. Rudd is usually an excellent supporting guy in comedies, having made a career out of playing the brother, the friend, the co-worker or the brother-in-law. He has appeared in a supporting capacity in a number of the better comedies of the last decade including Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy, The 40 Year Old Virgin, Knocked Up and Forgetting Sarah Marshall, as well as making the grade for the all-star cast of Night at the Museum. Over the last couple of years he has started to step up into more leading roles, with Role Models, this film and Dinner for Schmucks. Some have questioned whether he has the screen presence to lead a film, but he's definitely moving in the right direction. Plus he has the male lead in James L. Brooks's next romantic comedy, How Do You Know, which can only help his standing. Jason Segel is probably a step again below Rudd. He also is not believed to have the presence to carry a film and doesn't the same streak of excellent supporting roles to support him. His role in the TV series How I Met Your Mother has brought him some attention though, Forgetting Sarah Marshall found its audience and he knows the right people to get him a leg up in the industry. What I like about him is that he has a real sincerity in his performance which just seems to make him a really likable guy. He's also a genuinely talented guy, not only acting but also writing songs for Forgetting Sarah Marshall and Get Him to the Greek and writing screenplays for Forgetting Sarah Marshall and, which I am super pumped for, the upcoming The Greatest Muppet Movie Ever Made (the IMDb page for which includes a cast list, the only two non-Muppet actors listed being Jason Segel and, strangely, Charles Grodin).

I Love You, Man is a really good example of how by simply playing with an existing narrative stereotype you can create a story which is both different and amusing. There is nothing particularly interesting, different or comical about a story which involves a guy with a good group of friends who meets a girl, becomes fascinated with her and in spending more and more time with her starts to jeopardise his existing friendships. That's pretty ho-hum, uninventive stuff. But by switching it around so that it is a guy who jeopardises his romantic relationship when he makes a male friend, it works. It provides a comical spin on a common story.

J.K. Simmons has a small role as Peter's father and is brilliant as always. He and Fred Willard are two guys who I just think always make a comedy better. The scene with Simmons and Samberg as Peter's gay brother are among the highlights of the film. Lou Ferrigno is good value too, in his so extended and somewhat more involved version of the obscure celebrity cameo that seemed to start with Chuck Norris and David Hasselhoff's appearances in Dodgeball.

I Love You, Man is an uncomfortably awkward but really likable film. There are a lot of genuine laughs, but the humour is not cruel or overly crude. I think Roger Ebert hit the nail on the head though when he said that a large part of the success of this movie probably comes from the fact that every guy wishes they had a friend like Sydney Fife.