DVD Reviews

I Love You, Man – DVD Review

By Frankie Dees Aug 22, 2009, 1:52 GMT

In "I Love You, Man", the new comedy from co-writer/director John Hamburg ("Along Came Polly"), Peter Klaven (Paul Rudd) is a successful real estate agent who, upon getting engaged to the woman of his dreams, Zooey, (Rashida Jones) discovers to his dismay that he has no male friend close enough to serve as his Best Man. Peter immediately embarks on a series of bizarre and awkward "man-dates" to find such ...more

Headliners Paul Rudd and Jason Segel put their crack comic-timing to good use in ‘I Love You, Man’ - a film that is otherwise weighted down in formulaic shenanigans about a ‘Man’ who has no male friends and finds himself on the prowl for a best man for his upcoming wedding.

And, yep, I get that the film is supposed to be a play on the formula of romantic comedies but it’s still a pretty flimsy idea at best with director John Hamburg (‘Along Came Polly’) and writer Larry Levin (‘Seinfeld’ and, um, ‘Dr. Doolittle’) doing little to offer up surprises. We get all the rom-com requisites: a meet cute, an inexplicable break-up and the inevitable reunion tell-all in front of a wedding, yet this time it’s between two guys…hardy-har.

That being said, this seemingly Apatow-lite (Judd Apatow has nothing to do with the film other than letting a few of his favs off the leash I suppose) pic coasts into recommended territory due to one heck of a comic ensemble with everybody from Rudd and Segel to Jamie Pressly and Jon Favreau - as a contemptuous married couple making sure the audience gets their money’s worth.

I basically threw down the whole synopsis in the opening sentence, but slightly more detail finds uptight LA realtor Peter Klaven (Rudd) in love with Zooey (Rashida Jones) and making the proposal. But as she’s making calls to her best gals to break the news, poor Peter realizes he has no one to call. You see, he’s more comfortable talking up Johnny Depp with the girls in the office rather than crack fart jokes and throw out sport statistics.

With the wedding looming, Peter needs a best man and quick! No matter that he seems to have an understanding, perfectly agreeable gay brother, Robbie (Andy Samberg) to do the job, who even sets him up on ‘man-dates’, as that would end our film pretty quick. After some expectedly awful first attempts that gain him an obnoxious gym trainer and a ticked-off gay dude, he comes across affable slouch Sydney Fife (Segel) who crashes his open house.

Just the type of easy-going cool guy Peter was looking for, Sydney holes up in his man-cave in Venice Beach where they kick back and talk about masturbation and the band Rush. Aping a bit from Steve Carrell in ’40 Year Old Virgin’, Rudd does his best awkward bits as he fails miserably at trying to keep up with Sydney in the casual cool department. Some of the funnier sequences in the film find Sydney throwing out nicknames as parting gifts and watching Peter try to disastrously return the favor.

And that’s pretty much it. We, of course, find that Zooey starts to get jealous of all the time that Peter and Sydney spend together which results in a ‘break up’ but if you know anything about formula, you can guess where it’s all going.

So, yeah, I wasn’t necessarily thrilled with the set-ups but credit to the cast that also includes J.K Simmons as Peter and Robbie’s father, for making this a lot funnier than it should have been.

The film is presented in anamorphic widescreen with a Dolby Digital 5.1 track and all tech specs are befitting a recent theatrical release. Ample special features start off with a commentary from Paul Rudd, Jason Segel and director John Hamburg that makes for a fun listen. There’s an easy camaraderie amongst the gents and they don’t take themselves or the film that seriously.

A 17-minute ‘Making of’ is next and, again, is more fun than your standard featurette with a playful cast and crew. About thirteen minutes of ‘Extended Scenes’ and another three minutes of ‘Deleted Scenes’ are also included and worth a watch. A great, lengthy ‘Gag Reel’ rounds things out with a few Easter Eggs also hidden in the mix.

The film loses some steam going into the final act but ‘I Love You, Man’ remains an easy recommend for fans of the cast who all get their time to shine including fun cameos from Lou Ferrigno, the band Rush and some State-alumni.

I think the film could have benefited by not only aping convention but breaking apart from it here and there but it continues Paul Rudd’s successful conversion from solid supporting player to deserving comic A-lister.