Heart, satire and potty humour

Rating: 9/10 (26 May 2009)

Curiously, the buzz surrounding the latest R rated adult comedy I Love You, Man is fairly superficial as many of the media eyes are on the clever creation of buzz word de jour 'bromance', meaning a platonic bond between two men in the spirit of a traditional romantic comedy. Now I don't know too much about all that, nor do I truly care. What I am concerned with however, and what I feel should be first and foremost on all accounts is how incredibly funny this movie really is.
What happens when you put two comedic actors who can do no wrong in a vehicle with an original premise and an experienced comedic director? Well, you get I Love You, Man which is one of the funniest comedies in years. Not quite as good as Superbed, better than Forrgetting Sara Marshall and about on par with Tropic thunder, leads Paul Rudd and Jason Segel anchor director John Hamburg's film so securely it adds a complete additional layer of heart and gravitas to material that could have been executed disastrously.
With both Rudd and Segel in recent years we have seen they can carry a movie, having starred as leads in Role Models and Forgetting Sara Marshall (which Rudd also starred in) respectively and uniting them as co-leads works fantastically. Neither sinks to a stereotype or falls to a role they have previously played nor do they play the hilarious (but not silly for the record) premise anything but straight. The duo score massive laughs together and apart and a fantastic supporting cast highlights all the talent involved marvelously.
Rudd stars as Peter Klaven a freshly engaged real-estate agent who has always been more of a girls-man then a best buddy guy. With the wedding approaching Peter soon realizes he has no close enough friends that could serve as a best man, or even a proper wedding party for that matter. So Peter does what any mature professional would do. he recruits his gay brother to set him up on man dates to find a suitable suitor for his big day. After a string of failed, sometimes homoerrotic ventures Peter meets Sidney Fife (Segel) a slovenly but oddly charming bloke at an open house. The two hit it off and a bromance is born, but the bond puts a strain on his engagement to Zooey (a lovely and delightful Rashida Jones) and more hilarity ensues.
As I mentioned Rudd and Segel are given oodles to work with by way of a supporting cast including Andy Samburg (who has evolved by leaps and bounds since Hot Rod) as Peter's gay brother, John Favreau as a disgusting family acquaintance, J.K. Simmons as Peter's father, and The Hulk, Lou Ferrigno as himself. Along with the endlessly clever writing and bountiful talent, director Hamburg also manages to blend in rib cracking potty humour, satirize rom-coms and meld it all together with a whole lot of heart and warmth. I loved it, man.
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