Review of I Love You, Man (2009) by Joshua B — 06 Jan 2012

I Love You Man is a refreshing and hilarious comedy rich with clever musings on gender differences and relationships. Paul Rudd and Jason Segel are fresh and likable guys whose friendship pretty accurately encompasses the profound awkwardness of heterosexual male bonding.

The film plays out by formula, but it's the characters who make it work. Its portrayal of the female partner (Rashida Jones) as competent and supportive is refreshing. The supporting cast has all the necessary characters played to hilarious perfection: the macho gay little brother (Andy Samberg) and the straight-laced dad (JK Simmons reprising his Juno role), the perpetually single and desperate girl friend (Sarah Burns), the douchebag coworker (Rob Huebel), and the friend couple consisting of a great girl (Jamie Pressley) married to a huge jerk (Jon Favreau), who are consistently fighting. In fact, the casting of the film is as important as the writing in making the jokes work as well as they do, as the actors (and the director, for that matter) understand that subtlety timing are the most important factors in humour.

It's a Judd Apatow-style film without Apatow involved, mixing heart and hilarity in the right amounts.