I Love You, Man: Best bromance ever

By Faheem Ahmed     4/9/09 7:00pm

The 21st century has ushered in many things: iPhone, text messaging, blogs and ... bromantic comedies? This new genre has been spearheaded by comedic guru Judd Apatow, who has brought us a slew of smart and funny films with a dash of love such as The 40-Year-Old Virgin and Knocked Up. Apatow has also made stars such as Paul Rudd (Role Models), Seth Rogen (Superbad) and Jason Segel (Forgetting Sarah Marshall) household comedic names.But when Apatow is not involved in that comedic vein, it can show. Such is the case of I Love You, Man.

This film centers on Peter Klaven (Rudd), a lonely real estate agent who decides to marry Zooey Rice (The Office's Rashida Jones). The only problem, however, is that Klaven does not have a single male friend. Needing to find a best man for the wedding or risk being embarrassed in front of his fiancée's friends and family, Kraven proceeds to go on a series of "man-dates" until finding Sydney Fife (Segel), who appears to be the ideal best bro.

What ensues is a lot of memorable dialogue ("Slappin' the bass, man!"), outrageously gross scenes (projectile vomiting comes to mind) and a couple of outstanding performances by supporting characters, especially the heart-achingly beautiful Jones and, somewhat randomly, Jon Favreau, the director of Iron Man.

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As promising a comedic duo as Segel and Rudd are, I Love You, Man was a bit off-kilter. Sure, there were a sprinkling of laugh-out-loud moments, but the comedy was uneven and inconsistent. Rudd and Segel would be hilarious one moment but excruciatingly annoying the next. These problems come from either an issue in the script or the actors not having a firm grasp on the personality of their characters.

The film sorely lacks the finesse of Apatow, who has the ability to seamlessly blend comedy and heartfelt moments. Director John Hamburg, the screenwriter of Meet the Parents and Along Came Polly, clearly has a knack for comedy, but is still learning the ropes as far as it comes to directing.

Although I Love You, Man does not measure up to the high standards of Forgetting Sarah Marshall or Knocked Up, one should remember that few comedies can. This film was a noble attempt by Hamburg, but he needs to do a better job of showcasing the talents of Rudd and Segel, because nobody can do bromances quite like them.

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