Refreshing comedy film worthy of plenty of love, man

Nick Johnson
Editor-in-Chief
These days clever, original comedies are a rarity. How many Talladega Nights, Step Brothers and other half-aborted screen children of Will Ferrell must we sit through to get a deserving laugh?

The answer may be six or seven, but that’s what makes refreshing comedies like I Love You, Man so much more captivating. Following in the footsteps of movies like Knocked Up and Forgetting Sarah Marshall, I Love You, Man takes a common social phenomenon—in this case, male friendship—and explores it to the fullest, most bizarre and hilarious detail.

Paul Rudd plays Peter Klaven, a newly-engaged real estate agent who has been a ladies’ man his whole life. Thus, he has an array of underdeveloped social skills when it comes to his male peers. Between projectile vomiting during poker games and leaving awkward, drawn out voicemail messages, Peter finds himself at a loss for whom to name as his best man. Peter soon decides to search for a ‘best friend,’ if for only the sake of his wedding. After several failed, albeit humorous, ‘man-dates’ orchestrated by both himself and his gay brother, Peter is about to give up his search.

Then, at an open house for a property he’s trying to sell, he meets Sydney Fife (Jason Segel), an observant, honest and laid-back investor. This intrigues Peter, and the two of them begin a series of bromantic liasons that include flamboyantly rocking out to Rush, disregarding public policy about pet droppings and picking fights with washed-up superhero actors. Rudd’s clumsy, awful brocabulary leads to situations that may have some squirming and wincing in their seats just from sheer awkwardness; thankfully, Segel’s character’s non-chalant, occasionally abrasive truthfulness and cool-guy lingo start to rub off on his friend as the film goes on.

I Love You, Man is unique in that it portrays long-term friendships as not all that different from long-term, romantic relationships—both require time, dedication and enthusiasm. Plus, as the film comically points out, there can be falling-outs that require the return of borrowed possessions. I Love You, Man also explores a question routinely wondered by couples: how much time is truly okay to spend with friends when you’re in a romantic relationship? With both having many of the same needs, conflict is inevitable.

Though it didn’t stray from the typical comedy movie ending with a slapstick cast reunion, the plot of I Love You, Man was (for the most part) void of any radical, nonsensical turns. The film stuck with amusing portrayals of situations that common people find in their everyday lives while simultaneously dissecting the best-friendship under an entirely different, pseudo-romantic light.

Well, that and it had people stepping in dog poo.