Utterly hilarious in some areas, but could have been a lot better

Rating: 7/10 (12 March 2009)

Peter Klaven (Paul Rudd) proposes to his girlfriend Zooey (Rashida Jones), and rather romantically, has everything already set up for the wedding. Zooey is obviously excited, and so are her girlfriends. But Peter seems to not take into account that he has no real guy friends, and thus, would be forced to stand at the front of the aisle with basically no one by his side. So, he searches for a best friend, and eventually finds Sydney Fife (Jason Segal). Only things do not stay as swimmingly as imagined.
From the trailers, I Love You, Man looks like a surefire comedic hit. I practically sprang at the chance of seeing an advance screening of it for this very reason. And for the majority of the movie, it really is as funny as it looks.
Rudd and Segal, Judd Apatow regulars, are hilarious acting together and apart (the former obviously working even better than the latter). Both have a great sense of comedic timing, and give their characters a surprising amount of depth. They are given the bare minimum of development throughout the film, but both breathe just enough life into the characters that they easily make them memorable. These two roles could have easily been filled by just about anyone, but they work and make the audience care because of who plays them.
Rudd seems a little too old for his awkward role here, and it really shows in some of the scenes where he clearly looks like he should be younger. But nonetheless, he gives the character a such a unique voice that this fact is a little easy to overlook. Much the same goes for Segal, who walks all over Rudd in a lot of scenes. He is clearly the funnier of the two, but he manages to bring the best out of both of them. Even in the most ridiculous of scenes, Segal delivers in spades.
But unfortunately, the film would have very little going for it if these two were not in it. Apatow may not be involved, but it feels like it was ripped straight from his book of tricks. Sure, dirty and offensive jokes are in right now (and thankfully are not toned down in the least), but it feels a little too close to the man than it should. Many of the jokes work, and hit the mark, but some fall so flat it hurts. It is a real shame that there are such stale moments in the film, but it just never tries to amend any of its wrongs. It practically just allows itself to revel in them.
What also does not help is the film being entirely predictable. Leaving aside just how much of the film is given away in the trailers and TV spots, the film practically plays like a paint-by-numbers of recent comedies. Yes, it has the high-concept of being one of the first real bromantic comedies, and turns an age old cliché on its head (while only sidestepping into homosexual elements for actual comedy as opposed to doing so just for the sake of it). But it only uses this concept when it wants to. It feels like it wants to branch out, and really make something original of itself (why else throw in a random subplot involving Lou Ferrigno?), but ends up being held back by the constraints of wanting to play out to the Apatowian audience.
Much like other Apatow films, the film also feels a bit too long. I do not understand why the man seems to have patented this idea, but it makes for some really irritating moments in otherwise superlative movies. I Love You, Man is no different. There is a huge gap in the film that continues to be funny, but just feels unwarranted. It is almost to the point of dragging itself out just to make the running time a pinch longer. And the inevitably Unrated DVD/Blu-ray is not going to help this dilemma out either.
The film also falters in its treatment of the female characters. Jones has some genuinely hilarious lines sprinkled throughout the film, as do Sarah Burns and Jaime Pressly. There are some really funny exchanges between the three, but the film never seems to take advantage of the potential comic goldmine these three develop between each other. It instead seems content with amping up the interactions between Rudd and Segal, and only giving us minute doses of the other three. It is a real shame, but the material we do get is much funnier than I imagined it would be.
Much the same goes for the supporting cast, headed up by Andy Samberg, J.K. Simmons, Jane Curtin, Thomas Lennon and especially, Jon Favreau. All five of these actors get to deliver some hilarious dialogue. I was almost in pain from how hard I was laughing at some of the things these guys say and do in the film. They each get a moment or two that practically steals the film from Rudd and Segal. But unfortunately, they also seem to be very undercut (especially Simmons and Curtin) in the general course of things. I realize I thought the running time was a bit too long, but it could have been a bit better swallowed had the filmmakers used more material from this incredible supporting cast. Here's hoping they get more time to shine on the DVD/Blu-ray.
I really wanted to like I Love You, Man, but it is hindered by so many things that it only mildly delivers on the promises of the trailers. When it works, it is practically on fire from being so funny. But when it falls flat, it falls hard. There is so much more that this film could have done with itself, but it seems content with simply being average.
7/10.