Review of I Love You, Man (2009) by Carl P — 10 Jul 2011

This film has an interesting premise - a romantic comedy based around the difficulties men face when trying to build platonic relationships with other guys. When Peter Klaven (Rudd) realises he has no friends there to be his best man for his future wedding he sets out to meet a guy. This is a great twist on the usual rom-com and goes a bit further than traditional 'bromances' as it shows the sheer awkwardness that we endure when meeting other guys. Well, Klaven does meet the 'guy of his dreams' in the shape of Sydney Fife (Segel) who helps turn Klaven into a real guy.

Of course, with these changes comes conflict as he starts to neglect and drift apart from new fiance Zooey Rice (Jones), but this is something you could predict before putting the DVD in, and the reason for that is because it's a paint by numbers film. Paint by numbers isn't bad of course, it's the safest way to ensure a film that most people will like, however sometimes you want something a bit different. I Love You Man fits in all the jokes you'd expect but the problem is it isn't as funny as it could have been with a cast like this. The film isn't necessarily about being funny, the best bits are the lingering moments of awkwardness which continue a little bit longer than you'd anticipate.

So all in all it's a pretty average film, but it does have its moments.