SNMR 7.25: "I Love You, Man"

GREEN'S JAM SESSION IN THE MAN CAVE REVIEW:

Peter Klaven (Paul Rudd) is a Los Angeles real estate agent who has just proposed to his girlfriend Zooey (Rashida Jones). She's got tons of female friends for her bridal party. When asked who his best man will be, Peter realizes that all of his friends are women - he has no close male friends. So the quest begins, as he's set up on man dates by his gay brother and his mother. All end disastrously. Then Peter meets Sydney (Jason Segel) at an open house for Lou Ferrigno, his biggest client - and the bromance is on.

Paul Rudd is an excellent comic actor in his own right but he seems a little awkward playing the shy straight man to Segel's obnoxious character. But Rudd and Segel do display some chemistry and do manage to play off of each other pretty well. Rashida Jones, due to the nature of the movie and given her small part, does a good job holding her own with the boys. She's got large, beautiful eyes and a winning smile. The supporting cast is good, especially interplay between Jaime Pressly and Jon Favreau.

John Hamburg is a bright young director with a good eye for comedy. I liked his previous feature film, 2004's Along Came Polly. He does a fine job managing the talented cast and keeping the story from getting too silly. My two favorite scenes were Peter, Sidney and Zooey at the Rush concert (I loved her WTF look during the whole thing) and Lou Ferrigno giving Sidney the sleeper hold.

The extras on the DVD were good, especially the 'making of' featurette and the extended scenes.

A friend of mine saw this movie in the theater and thought it was funny and that I should have seen it in the theater myself. But I didn't and I'm glad. Yes, this was a funny movie - in places, but I'm glad I got to watch it for free.

*** out of *****

I Love You, Man (2009, R, 104 minutes), starring Paul Rudd, Jason Segel, Rashida Jones, Andy Samberg, Jaime Pressly, Jon Favreau, Sarah Burns, Jane Curtin and JK Simmons. Screenplay by Larry Levin and John Hamburg. Directed by John Hamburg.