movie review by brandon: i love you, man

brandon's rating **** out of *****

In the three or four years since The 40 Year-Old Virgin flung Judd Apatow from cult hero to comedy icon, his particular brand of comedy has come to reign supreme. Unfortunately, I also feel that since 40 Year-Old Virgin, the comedies have become more watered down and fallen into typical romantic comedy terrain. So I found myself really underwhelmed by the release of I Love You, Man…even though Apatow had nothing to do with it.

It just seemed like it would be along the same lines as last year's Forgetting Sarah Marshall. It would have its moments, and be overall enjoyable, but nothing exceptional. The mixed critical reviews only seemed to prove my beliefs. So I was as surprised as anyone when they turned out to be wrong. Stupid beliefs.

Paul Rudd plays Peter, a nice guy who has always connected better with chicks than with dudes. He proposes to his special lady (Rashida Jones), and faced with trying to put together a wedding party, decides he needs more guy friends. After several failed man-dates, he stumbles upon Sydney (Jason Siegal), a scrubby guy who embodies all the man traits Peter does not.

Peter soon falls in man love and finds his inner dude. But this starts to put a strain on his relationship, which was based on Peter's ability to connect with ladies. And sadly, the movie misses a golden opportunity to examine that dichotomy. Instead it's focused more on the men-need-to-grow-up thing that seems to reside inside every comedy these days. But hey, it's still a damn funny movie.

Rudd and Siegel make a great team, and Rudd shows that he can play the wide-eyed innocent as well as he can play the snarky guy. A few fun cameos (and a lot of Rush references) help round out the comedy. There's nothing overall fresh about the plot, but it takes the typical rom-com clichés and twists them slightly to be about platonic men. Like Rudd's line of bad man-dates, or his inability to call Siegel out of nervousness. I rolled my eyes when the usual borrowing-money plot reared its ugly head, but was surprised to see that it was handled in a new, inventive way.

After drivel like Haunting in Connecticut and Paul Blart, it's nice to know there are screenwriters who actually put some effort into their work. A lot of this may have more to do with my initial reluctance to see the movie, but I found myself pleasantly surprised. It probably won’t wind up in the comedy hall of fame or anything, but it's as good, fun time.

check out the trailer, if you live under a rock, by clicking here.