Tuesday, September 8, 2009

Movie 164: I Love You, Man


I Love You, Man (2009) by John Hamburg
starring Paul Rudd and Jason Segel


In a nutshell: An entertaining comedy that probably doesn't have any staying power.

Quick synopsis: Paul Rudd gets engaged, only to realize he doesn't have any guy friends worthy of being best man at his wedding.

Content: Keeping this one very short.

The whole concept of this film annoyed me. It felt like someone was trying to cash in on the super-annoying "bro-mance" trend much like ABC's lame attempt to cash in on cougars allegedly being hot with their new series Cougar Town (is the really the best name they could come up with?? I'm placing the over/under on this series at 6 episodes). Not that "I Love You, Man" is a better name. It's horrible. But after watching it, I realized that the filmmakers weren't the ones cashing in on "bro-mances" and, in fact, the term probably became popularized after production on this movie was well under way. It was most likely the studio marketing teams that stepped in and pushed the annoying "bro-mance" angle. But still, the movie has a lot working against it. The script is not creative at all. They just took a generic romantic comedy script and subbed another guy for the woman. But the movie turns out to be quite ok.

What made it succeed against the odds? That's an easy question to answer: Paul Rudd. He is so likeable that he carries the entire film (along with a little help from the charismatic Rashida Jones). If they had tried to cast anyone else (I can only imagine Dane Cook and McConaughey's names came up in casting discussions), it would have been a horror show.

Jason Segel plays the other guy. And although I usually like him (Forgetting Sarah Marshall, Freaks and Geeks) he kinda annoyed me. I got the sense that he thought he was being cooler than he actually was which rubbed me the wrong way.

One of my biggest pet peeves with romantic comedies is when they have gimmicks and "I Love You, Man" had two: Rush and Lou Ferrigno. Another strike against it. (Thankfully the word "bro-mance" is never used in the film...they dodged a bullet there). So, you really have to believe me when I say that Paul Rudd did a great job because everything else seemed to working against it.

Rolling rankings:
1. Good Will Hunting (#156)
2. Do The Right Thing (#162)
3. The Hangover (#157)
4. Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince (#155)
5. Doubt (#160)
6. Interview With The Vampire (#163)
7. I Love You, Man (#164)
8. The Happening (#161)
9. Fever Pitch (#158)
10. Fanboys (#159)

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