I Love You, Man Review

I’m not even a little ashamed to say that I love me some Paul Rudd and I have for a long time.

I loved him in “Clueless”, I loved him on “Friends” and I’ve loved him in his various supporting roles in Judd Apatow productions (“The 40-Year-Old Virgin”, “Knocked Up”, “Anchorman”, “Forgetting Sarah Marshall”)

With his star on the rise, I was obviously excited to see Rudd step up to the leading-man plate and headline his own romantic comedy. Well, his own bromantic comedy, anyway.

In “I Love You, Man” Rudd stars as Peter, a guy who is about to get married and realizes he has no male friends to fill out his side of the bridal party. He sets out to meet male friends and eventually comes across Sydney (Jason Segel), a free-spirited, Rush-loving kindred spirit who encourages the uptight Peter to loosen up.

If you read the first few paragraphs, you know I’m biased, but I thought Rudd was pretty great as Peter. He easily conveys the fact that Peter simply gets along better with women (which is part of what makes him such a great match for his fiancée Zooey, played by Rashida Jones) while stopping just short of overplaying Peter’s feminity (though he still acts “gayer” than his gay brother, played by Andy Samberg). I also like that the movie didn’t reveal some deep-rooted psychological reason for Peter’s “condition” — this is just how he is.

Segel’s easy-going, slobbish charm is a good contrast to Rudd’s uptight energy. It’s a nice role-reversal from “Forgetting Sarah Marshall” where Rudd was the laid-back dude, and Segel settles well into the role (I can almost smell the stink from his man cave) and gets some of the movie’s biggest laughs.

As in most romantic comedies, there are plenty of vivid supporting performances. Samberg scores a few laughs, but I also liked Jaime Pressley as Zooey’s best friend Denise and I was REALLY impressed by Jon Favreau’s work as Denise’s husband Barry, a spectacular asshole. (Here’s hoping he doesn’t completely give up acting to make “Iron Man” movies.)

I was a little less impressed by Jones. She gets across that Zooey is a cool, supportive girlfriend (why did it take a movie aimed at men for there to be a girlfriend who wasn’t a shrew?), and I liked the character, but that could be because I really like Jones. Would’ve been nice for her to have a little more to do in this movie, but I’m just happy to see Rashida Jones get some work.

I also thought director John Hamburg (“Along Came Polly”) could’ve had a firmer hand in the editing room. Sure, improvisation and riffs produce some of the best material in comedies. Still some of Rudd/Peter’s dorky guy riffs worked (inexplicably calling Sydney “Jobin”), but most of them went on WAY too long (“Slappin’ da bass!”) to the point that it was irritating.

There are also a few instances of bits that were probably a little funnier to the people writing the movie than they are to us (having Lou Ferrigno appear as himself).

Still, while it’s not as uproariously hilarous as some of Rudd's previous efforts, “I Love You, Man” is still a funny movie featuring a great performance by one of my favorite actors.

I Love You, Man...B+