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I love you, man. |
I Love you, Man, Exeter Vue
Cert 15, 105 minutes
By Graham Taylor
Following in the footsteps of Forgetting Sarah Marshall and Role Models, I Love you, Man is the latest arrested youth comedy to come out of Hollywood. It also gives a new spin on male friendship; now known as the bro-mance.
Paul Rudd plays Peter Klaven, a successful estate agent who’s just asked his girlfriend, Zooey (Rashida Jones) to be his wife.
As she excitedly gathers all her girlfriends to tell them the exciting news, Zooey questions why Peter has only told his family the news.
When the happily united couple visit Peter’s relatives, his brother Robbie (Andy Samburg) accidentally reveals that Peter is more of a ‘girlfriend’ guy, and has never actually had a best friend. Peter thinks nothing of it, until he hears Zooey and her gal-pals discussing his limited friends, and how the wedding reception will look uneven. From then on, Peter decides that he needs to start making male friends, so with the help of his parents and Robbie, he prepares himself for a series of ‘man dates’ with men who have recently moved to the area.
It all ends in disaster though, and Peter is about to give up when he meets Sydney Fife (Jason Segel) the exact opposite of him; loud, brash and downright dirty. But they both have one thing in common; they’re looking for a best friend. The two get closer and learn they have similar interests, but Zooey begins to be increasingly left out, and it seems the wedding may be over before its begun.
Who will Peter choose; his girlfriend or his new best friend?
I’ve never really enjoyed these teenage youth comedies, purely because I don’t find crude humour funny. However, I did enjoy Forgetting Sarah Marshall last year, because there was a connection with all the characters, a deeper level to the storyline. It’s exactly the same here with I Love you, Man.
Rudd and Segel both worked on Forgetting, and the chemistry between them was an important part of that film, but it is the main component here. Luckily, the two continue to bounce off each other, what with their quick comic timing, and the care, trust and vulnerability they both show as they portray these two oddball characters.
Rudd proves that he can play the awkward hard worker for the millionth time, but his act is no less enjoyable. Segel doesn’t get to show off his skills as much as he did in Forgetting but he plays Sydney well, giving an edge to his character, bringing more to the table than you would have first seen.
The supporting characters are just as comical, particularly from the female stars. Rashida Jones, Jaime Pressley and Sarah Burns as best friends Zooey, Denise and Hailey are fantastic as the three best friends.
The script (by John Hamburg and Larry Levin) is sharp enough to give these female characters more depth and screen time, providing bigger laughs.
The smaller roles are also noticeable. Thomas Lennon is super as Doug, one of Peter’s man dates gone wrong. He constantly proves his credibility as a comedic actor, and this is one of his best performances in a film, despite it only being a small one.
It’s fair to say that no large laughs are raised in the film. It intentionally sets out to make little twitters instead of the whole hog.
The film is funny, and far funnier than comedies such as Superbad, but it’s not my kind of funny. It probably is to other people, but I didn’t find myself in a heap on the floor, dying of hysterics.
The language does go over the limit of what it should sometimes, and it doesn’t in any way help the film. It doesn’t make it funnier, or run more smoothly, it’s just there so it can attract a certain audience who think swearing his hilarious. It’s alright to use swearing, but when you have a swear word a minute, it becomes frustrating as for me, it hinders the enjoyment of the film.
I Love you, Man is enjoyable, and it’s pretty funny, but it’s not spectacular, despite its superb American run at the Box Office.
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