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BluRay/DVD Reviews

I LOVE YOU, MAN

By • Aug 20th, 2009 •

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Peter Klavin (Paul Rudd) is getting married to Zooey (Rashida Jones), the woman he loves. She is so excited that after the proposal she calls all of her girl friends. Peter doesn’t call anyone because “his parents are probably asleep”. This is when she realizes he has no guy friends. When Peter comes home early while Zooey is hosting a “girls’ night” (in a very funny scene where he surprises them with root-beer floats) he decides enough is enough. He needs a friend.

What follows is one awkward scenario after another where Peter goes on “man-dates” looking for the right friend. This proves difficult until he meets Sydney (Jason Segel). The two click, and Sydney seems willing to hang out at the drop of a hat. As their Friendship evolves they start spending more and more time together until Zooey starts to worry. Are they too close? Is she being replaced?

Ever since Kevin Smith started making movies in the 90’s it’s become very popular for modern comedies to tackle the subject of male bonding, asking the question: when do close buddies become just plain gay?

These homosexual undertones have been prevalent in many films since Smith’s, but I LOVE YOU, MAN is one of the few that bases the entire plot around one of these relationships. (I think another might be this year’s HUMPDAY, which I haven’t seen). On the back of the DVD, it describes the film as being a “Bromance”. I don’t know if they coined that phrase, but nevertheless it’s clever, and accurate. That is essentially what the film is. A love story between two heterosexual males, complete with a break-up scene and everything.

Making friends for most people comes naturally. Consciously trying to make a friend when you are older and already settled into your job can be as difficult as finding a date, which the film portrays well. After meeting Sydney and hanging out for a bit, Peter tries too hard to be casual by using what can only be called as “failed buddy slang” ie. abbreviating words that shouldn’t be abbreviated, and even searching for the right nickname to call his new friend by.

This starts out as funny but sadly these jokes are repeated constantly. Uncomfortable/humorous just becomes uncomfortable/frustrating.

Paul Rudd is a likable guy. Or at least, that’s his screen persona. And it works! You’re kind of a jerk if you don’t like him. He is great in his supporting roles (KNOCKED UP) but unfortunately he lacks power as the lead in this one. The same goes for Jason Segel. I didn’t like him as the lead in FORGETTING SARAH MARSHALL but I think he is quite good in I LOVE YOU, MAN.

Rashida Jones’ character doesn’t have much meat but she is a very believable actress and has a natural beauty that makes her easy to warm up to. Other supporting characters include Jaime Pressly and Jon Favreau. Pressly is good, and it’s nice to see her in a role where she doesn’t play trailer trash. Favreau’s role is just uninteresting and not funny. About an hour ago he tweeted (tweets are posts on “Twitter”) “I Love You, Man out on DVD tomorrow. Yes, I know I play a prick. Pricks are more fun. Please don’t quote that out of context.” That was funnier than anything he said in the movie.

The DVD sports some decent features such as deleted and extended scenes, a gag real, a featurette and commentary track by the director.

A lot of the jokes miss, and at times it feels like it’s trying too hard. Nevertheless, I LOVE YOU, MAN is a cute movie and even though I didn’t laugh out loud much, my smile was pretty wide throughout.

Did I just use the word cute? Damn that was gay.

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