Review: I Love You, Man

2009 has been a good year for Paul Rudd. He’s had big success with his first lead in Role Models ( **** -One of my top 10 comedies ever) and I Love You Man promises to continue the trend for such a talented actor. At first glance, this is a weak film. Both leads have really only had a starring film each, the aforementioned Role Models for Rudd and 2008’s Forgetting Sarah Marshall for Jason Seigel and from the trailer, it didn’t look like anything special. It looked like another flimsy film washing over Spring as Apatow pocketed a few more million.

Unfortunately, I was half right. his film is flimsy as hell. The story is propped up by a few middle fingers to the normal buddy movie fare, but there’s only so far parodying your own genre can take you. Another big failing for the film was what can be universally cited for an Apatow film, every female character was either boring, stupid or annoying. This wouldn’t be so much of a problem if it weren’t for the fact Radisha Jones, a very talented actress, was given such a big role. In the film she served only as an irritating side note for what should have been some complimentary heart for the film. They got it right once in Knocked Up, I know they can do it again.

I Love You, Man has its flaws but it’s also undeniably funny, a running gag where Seigel’s character refuses to clean up after his dog sits well. And Rudd’s awkwardness around his guy-friends is something I can relate to all too well. Like Role Models, Like Forgetting Sarah Marshall, I Love You, Man manages to avoid enough easy pitfalls that it so could have fallen into, and becomes yet another success for comedy. I’m still hankering for a proper narrative this month, though.

Rating: ***
share on: facebook