‘I Love You, Man’ is Suffocated by Its Premise
-----The latest adult comedy starred Paul Rudd and Jason Segel, both participants in 2007’s ‘Forgetting Sarah Marshall.’ While the trailer was occasionally odd, there seemed to be a good number of laughs. I was pretty positive this would be a quality comedy…but I was wrong.
-----‘I Love You, Man’ follows the recently engaged Peter Klaven. When confronted with the decision of his best man, Peter quickly comes to the stark realization that he has had no serious guy-friends in his life. Looking to rectify the situation, Peter heads out on a number of man-dates. After many failed attempts, he meets oddball Sydney Fife.
-----Paul Rudd plays the desperate Sydney Klaven. I was disappointed in him as a lead. He lacks the ability to sound anything but gay while searching for a male friend, and while that is the source of some humor, it becomes tiring and forces the end product of the film to be very unconvincing. Jason Segel plays Paul’s crazy friend Sydney. This role is also disappointing, partly due to acting, partly due to script. Segel comes off as weird, annoying, and lacking of any true friendship with Rudd’s character. He’s definitely a jerk, but that could be funny if there was any real chemistry with Rudd. Segel and Rudd never form the bond necessary to play believable friends. It all feels forced, as if their friendship is just a tool in making the movie’s title a reality. A buddy comedy without convincing buddies is like a superhero movie without special effects.
-----The movie’s script is too focused on the premise. The whole joke of the film is the very hetero, yet couple-like relationship the leads form. There’s no other material or point, so once the novelty of the premise wears off, and it wears off quick, there’s nothing much more to explore. The common raunchiness in Segel and Rudd films is there, but it comes in a tasteless and unnecessary way. Much of the crude humor seems out of character for the actors using it, and even just stupid at times. Not to mention making Segel even less relatable than he already comes off as. He’s not even the type of person who’s fun because he’s a blunt jerk; he’s mostly just a weird and unpleasant character. Ultimately, the film’s dedication to its intriguing but shallow concept is its downfall as the convention kicks in and the jokes start to fade beyond recognition. In a theater filled with about 20 people, I was often the only one laughing. And unfortunately, the majority of my laughs were modest chuckles, very few and far between.
-----The end product is a very disappointing buddy comedy that is very low on both heart and laughs. It’s a very forgetful and simple plot, which you’ll be tired of after about 20 minutes. Many of the intended laughs are in no way funny, to the point you won’t even smirk. Lacking a wild card like Russell Brand’s character in ‘Forgetting Sarah Marshall,’ ‘I love You, Man’ relies on weak leads that can’t carry the weak script. Even the most die hard Rudd and Segel fanatics will agree it is a very minor entry into the ever growing vault of boy-men films. You’ll laugh here and there, and may even have an enjoyable time for most of the duration; but with so many movies out there, why waste your time with ‘I Love You, Man’? The lack of convincing performances from either Rudd or Segel makes for one dull, mediocre at best, comedy. By all means, skip it; there are better films to see and better things to do with your time and money.
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