Critic Watch; I Love You, Man

I Love You, Man
Starring: Paul Rudd, Jason Segel, Rashida Jones, Andy Samberg
Written by: Larry Levin (& story) John Hamburg
Directed by: John Hamburg

I Love You, Man is another comedy brought brought forth by John Hamburg, previously known for his movies Meet the Parents, Zoolander, and Along Come Polly. This film follows Peter Klaven (Paul Rudd), a real estate agent who has recently become engaged to Zooey (Rashida Jones). While planning for his upcoming wedding, Klaven realizes he has no close male best friends to fill that all important role of best man. So Klaven embarchs on a series of man-dates, where he meets Sydney Fife (Jason Segel). The two become friends but the closer they become, the more Klaven and Zooey's relationship suffers.

Peter Hartlaub of the "San Francisco Chronicle" gave the film the highes score possible, a perfect 100 out of 100 on Megacritic. Hartlaub praises the film as one of the best comedies of the year. He makes a referece to the movie The 40-Year-Old Virgin, explaining that the funniest parts of that film were the interractions between Steve Carrell and his male friends, not the actual love story. In Hartlaub's opinion, that is the main strength of I Love You, Man: the focus is between the man love, and the relationship between Klaven and Zooey takes a back seat. Hartlaub gives directer Hamburg credit for making the satire seem fresh and new, even though we have seen the jokes before. In addition to this, Hartlaub also highlights the supporting characters who, even though they are not the main players, never fail to disappoint.

Roger Ebert of the "Chicago Sun-Times" gives the film a very respectable 88 out of 100. Ebert calls the film truly funny and will leave the viewer feeling good from watching the movie. Ebert touches on the character of Sydney (Segel) as a real highlight of the film, and his entrance as the place where the film stops being predictable. He also praises Pau Rudd's acting, which really conveys the slight awkwardness that follows around his character. Ebert says that yes it has the obligatory dumb, physical humor, but also has witty dialogue and observations that are truly funny.

Michael Phillips of the "Chicago Tribune" gives the film a 75 out 100, a pretty good score. Describes of the film as missing director Judd Apatow, but definitely influenced by him. Not as good as previous films such as Knocked Up, Superbad, or Forgetting Sarah Marshall, the film is a notable mention. Most of the jokes he describes as being redundant, almost like a "been there done that" sort of feel. For him, the real comedy is in the dialogue for the characters, things that have no importances whatsoever for the plot of the story. He closes his review by saying if only one of these movies could feature an interesting female lead, then it would be great.

Kyle Smith of the "New York Post" gave this film a 50 out of 50. His main argument is, why do I care if this guy has a best man? In fact, why won't he do what most guys do and use his brother? There is far too much time spent on Rudd's character going on his "man -dates" using tired jokes. There are some funny scenes, but the majority are not. Segel's character is supposed to be the man's man, but his "enlivened" speeches are the complete opposite of what men really feel or care about. Smith compares this film as to asking Michael Jackson what real men are like.

Johs Rosenblatt of the "Austin Chronicle" gave the film the worst rating of the bunch, a 40 out of 100. He says that in ten years when critics look back at the Bromance genre, they may look at I Love You, Man as the tipping point when films went from being inventive to being mechanical. Rosenblatt says that most of the jokes are written in becuase it is felt as if they have to be there. Everything is safe and Rashida Jones' character is compared to a black hole, a faceless force of gravity. He feels as if everything in the film is predictable.

Over all, I Love You, Man did very well, recieving an average score of 71 on Megacritic. Most feel as if it is a very funny movie, even if it panders to a specific audience in a specific age group.