Review of I Love You, Man (2009) by Chads — 21 Mar 2009

Lou Ferrigno is not some arbitrary casting choice. "I Love You, Man" employs the Marvel Comics superhero as a metaphorical gauge of the two men's sexual orientation. Under the boardwalk, in the film's most telling scene, one man tries to provoke change in another man; a transformation of Dr.

Bruce Banner proportions when the mild-manner man metamorphoses himself into The Incredible Hulk. Sydney Fife(Jason Segel) wants Peter Klaven(Paul Rudd) to get angry. Under the boardwalk, down by the sea, Sydney encourages his new friend to yell, and perhaps unleash the anti-social monster trapped under Peter's skin, which had prevented the real-estate agent from establishing close personal friendships with other males for all these years.

On the boardwalk, prior to their secluded moment below the foot traffic of Venice Beach, Sydney acts Hulk-like himself to a beachgoer who objects to stepping into his dog's poop, scaring the beachgoer away with a short burst of unfettered rage.

Later in the film, Sydney tries his luck again at coaxing the Hulk out of Peter by displaying his friend in a series of wardrobe changes on ad space that subtly evokes The Village People. When both men finally say, "I love you, man," to each other, the audience isn't sure if "man" denotes an expression of platonic or romantic love.

Unlike Frank Oz's "In and Out", the filmmaker keeps things ambiguous to the very end.