Review of I Love You, Man (2009) by Paul D — 28 Dec 2011

I Love You, Man is a comedy with a lot of heart that worked really well thanks to the chemistry between Paul Rudd and Jason Segel. The two were so great together that it is hard to remember what other two comedians have had better chemistry in the past few years like these two actors. Paul Rudd just has such perfect comedic timing, he was very funny and he seemed like a natural in every awkward situation he was in. Segel on the other hand was extremely funny and played the laid back immature friend. They were the main reason this story worked so well because this movie could have gone wrong in so many ways otherwise, for example on focusing on the vomit or poop jokes that really did not add anything to the film. But those overused jokes were not the main theme and the chemistry between both actors and the addition of a great supporting cast were what held this movie together and made it my second favorite comedy of the year after The Hangover.

The movie followed the same formula you would find in a romantic comedy except this time around the focus was not the guy trying to get the girl, but rather a guy trying to find a male friend. This was so much so that the main theme of the film was the relationship between Segel and Rudd and not so much as the relationship between Rudd and Rashida Jones. The Rudd-Segel relationship was the main focus of the film with the characters meeting each other, building their friendship, and then getting to a point were the relationship begins to face some issues just like in most romantic comedies except this one had the twist that it was between two male friends. Jon Favreau and Jaimie Pressly were also very funny together and the scenes they were in were hillarious and added so much more to the movie. Rashida played the ideal woman who actually wanted her partner to spend some time with his male friends and was always very supportive towards him and their relationship was never really put to the test.

Paul Rudd is slowly rising to the top in the comedic genre thanks to his recent success with Role Models and now as the main actor in I Love You, Man. He also had several small rolls in other Apatow production, but he really has proven now that he can carry a film on his own. Jason Segel on the other hand had his turn to shine in Forgetting Sarah Marshall, but he was great in this movie as well and is beggining to get noticed as other comedic stars seem to fade. This movie was just so much fun and the ending was also great with a nice little message about friendship towards the end. I recommend this film and guarantee you will end up smiling several times during this movie.