I love you to, man

Rating: 8/10 (25 July 2009)

Societal norms are a constantly evolving beast. Time was, most people got married at 23 or 24, had kids by 25, and that's just the way it was. These days, most of my friends aren't getting married until their early to mid thirties and even those that do often get divorced and re-married in their mid thirties. Fact is, we live longer, educate longer, and mature into family life slower. Another big change of the last few decades is how we work. My father's generation got a job out of high school or college and worked for the same company for 30+ years. Your friends were your coworkers and buddies from childhood. Often you spent your whole life surrounded by mostly the same people. Childhood buds were your buds for life, for better or worse. Nowadays of course 4 or 5 or even more major career changes is not uncommon, nor is at least 1 or 2 major geographic moves. All these changes have not gone unnoticed in Hollywood, where a cottage industry has sprung up of "coming of age" films for those tweeners in between young adult and middle age. Paul Rudd, Judd Apatow, Seth Rogan; these people have made careers out of catering to these new social landscapes. 'I love you, man' is another in a string of light-hearted comedies that find the humor in these situations.
Rudd plays Peter Klaven, an young Realtor in LA who at the beginning of the film gets engaged to his girlfriend (played by Rashida Jones who you'll probably recognize from 'The Office' or 'Parks and Recreation'). Peter, like many of Rudd's other roles, is a decent, boyish, slightly goofy guy who connects better with woman than with men. One evening, while accidentally overhearing his fiancé talking with her friends about his lack of close male friends, Peter decides he needs to get a best friend. Naturally the process doesn't go smoothly and comedy ensues.
The major plot arc here is not unlike another Rudd film, 'The 40 year old virgin', but instead of romance it's friendship that we watch unfolding. Rudd, as usual, has excellent comedic timing and delivery. The jokes are decent, and there is only a minimal amount of gross out humor. Jason Segal of 'How I met your mother' (and the completely awesome 'Forgetting Sarah Marshall') plays a slightly more confident and aggressive role than you might be used to seeing him in as the new friend Sydney. The friendship chemistry between him and Rudd is decent, but maybe not quite there in my opinion. Instead I think some of the funnier moments play out between the fiancé and her friends, but all in all the movie works as a decent and fun bit of light movie fare. I would certainly recommend the movie for your NetFlix list.