I Really Like You, Man: I Love You, Man Reviewed

Thanks to the winning combination of Paul Rudd and Jason Segal, plus a ridiculous supporting cast that features nearly two dozen hilarious comedic actors and actresses, I Love You, Man is movie that's "critic proof". Like Nick and Norah's Infinite Playlist before it, John Hamburg's film is aggressively likeable--you will leave the theater with a smile on your face--and, as a result, it's possible that 2009 has already found its feel good movie for the year.

The story is simple. If you've caught the trailer, you can see the beats and situations of this film coming from the ticket booth: Straight boy meets straight boy, straight boy loses straight boy, straight boy gets straight boy back and they live happily ever after... as bros-for-life. Peter (Mr. Rudd) is a lifelong "girlfriend guy" who has seen his male friends dwindle away to zero. Upon his engagement to Zooey (Rashida Jones), he realizes he needs a best man and goes on the hunt for one. Enter Sydney Fife (Mr. Segal), a ne'er-do-well who has some issues of his own. Cue hilarious hijinks involving masturbating, projectile vomiting, Lou Ferrigno and Rush.

What separates I Love You, Man from the spate of Judd Apatow-inspired comedies is the way it handles the two protagonists. Unlike the characters in movies like Role Models and Forgetting Sarah Marshall, Peter isn't a stunted man-child, furiously playing his video games until a third act epiphany makes him realize it's time to get on with life. He's a mature adult with a good job and a gorgeous fiancee. His problem arises from the fact that he never actually got be one of the guys. It's an outstanding twist: the only way for Peter to truly grow up is to grow down.

Sydney, on the other hand, is that stunted man-child, but by the end of the film (SPOILER ALERT?) there are no signs that he's ever really going to change. He's perfectly contented to jam out to "Limelight", watch porn and drink Heineken's.

The trick of Mr. Hamburg's script is that he never insults the choices made by either Peter or Sidney; he never makes them the butt of a joke, but instead treats them with respect and kindness that each man truly deserves. The result of this "compassionate comedy" is that the audience winds up laughing with the friends and not at them.

This attitude seems to permeate through the entire movie. It would have been very easy to make Zooey a pill--think Katherine Heigl and Leslie Mann in Knocked Up--but Mr. Hamburg allows her concerns and complaints to be warranted. And when she does veer off into the land of nagging, she immediately realizes it and makes a course correction. Credit must go to Rashida Jones, who takes what amounts to a thankless role (pill or not, she's still "the girlfriend") and turns it into something much more fully-formed. Whereas Mr. Apatow appears to actively dislike women (including his wife), Mr. Hamburg actually loves them. This is a welcomed development.

Still, the humanist nature of the script aside, the entire film rests on the chemistry between Messrs. Segal and Rudd, and they don't disappoint. These two have the easygoing manner of a pair of old friends, and both are given plenty of room to explore the characters. Mr. Rudd, who has become America's Sweetheart, is his usual solid self--all stammers and false starts. The problem with his performance in I Love You, Man is that, at times, it feels like a variation on Steve Carell's work in The 40-Year-Old Virgin.

Mr. Segal, however, steals the show by being charming, wounded and totally resigned. There is a sadness behind Sydney's eyes that belie his devil-may-care exterior. And while it's never actually discussed until the big break-up scene, the way Mr. Segal imbibes his character with the loneliness of a man who woke up one morning to find his friends had passed him by on the road of life, is something to really behold. It's a subtle look, but it's present throughout the film. I get the sense that Mr. Segal could really become a dramatic actor if he so desired.

Of the rest of the cast, only Jon Favreau makes as big of an impression as the three leads--he's completely unlikeable and totally off-the-wall funny. However, it must be mentioned that I Love You, Man has one of the best comedy casts I've ever seen, featuring (deep breath): Jamie Pressly, Jane Curten, J.K. Simmons, Andy Samberg, Rob Huebel, Kym Whitley, Mather Zickel, Aziz Ansari, Nick Kroll, Liz Cackowski, Carla Gallo, Joe Lo Truglio, Matt Walsh, Thomas Lennon, David Krumholtz and Sarah Burns. Hell, David Wain even got credited as the "Wedding Photographer", but, I must admit, I didn't notice him.

It's impossible for that many talented people to fit together in one comedy, so it's not surprising that some barely have anything to do--Ms. Gallo, so good on Undeclared, doesn't get one spoken line of dialogue here. But just the fact that Mr. Hamburg was able to score them all is reason enough to see I Love You, Man; that this material was funny enough for some of the funniest people in Hollywood to participate in should be all you need to know about the quality of the film.

In the end, I Love You, Man is a romantic comedy for straight guys who don't like to admit they like romantic comedies. So set up a man-date and prepare to be charmed--this thing is adorable. Just do yourself a favor and don't take your buddy to dinner beforehand. You might give him the wrong idea.