Sometimes, this results in bland romcoms ("romantic comedies". Portmanteau!) about... I don't know, Katherine Heigl or Meg Ryan or someone meeting, like, Patrick Dempsey and being all cutesy or some shit. But when you cast genuinely funny leads who share an entertaining chemistry, and tweak the formula just enough so that it feels fresh, you can create gold. Such is the case with I Love You Man.
The premise is simple: Peter Klaven (Paul Rudd, who I would probably switch orientation for) is about to get married. In trying to find a best man, he realises he doesn't have any close male friends, and sets out to find some. He's aided in this pursuit by his parents - (Jane Curtin and JK Simmons, hilarious but criminally underused) and his brother (Andy Samberg).
If you're switched on, you heard that and had the same issue that I did - if he has a brother, what the fuck is his problem with finding a best man? Thankfully, the film is about the more general issue of Peter's lack of close male friends; the best man issue is just a trigger.
The film ambles along enjoyably enough for the first 20 minutes or so, as we meet Peter's wacky family, his fiance (Rashida Jones, charming) and her circle of friends (one of whom is married to a dickish guy played to dickish perfection by Iron Man director Jon Favreau).
At the beginning of act 2, however - in what Syd Field would refer to as Plot Point 1 - Peter meets Sydney Fife (a perfectly cast Jason Segel) and the film really kicks into high gear.
Act 1 was perfectly fine, but Act 2 is entirely about the interplay between Rudd and Segel, which pays off in a big way. The two are incredibly entertaining together, and the film succeeds based solely on the two leads' chemistry. As, of course, is the case with every romantic comedy - and make no mistake, this film may be about two straight guys, but the film follows the classic romantic comedy plot structure; the two meet, flirt and bond before tension tears them apart at the end of act two and resolves in act three with big speeches and whatnot. The fact that the "romance" happens between two men is a fresh twist on the old formula, but even that concept - the "bromance" (ridiculous fucking word, I can't believe I just used it) - is, while not yet cliche, starting to feel familiar. Superbad (written by Seth Rogen and Evan Goldberg, directed by Greg Mottola) and Pineapple Express (written by Rogen and Goldberg, directed by David Gordon Green) both have similar ideas at their core.
It's worth noting that the two examples just mentioned are Judd Apatow productions. While I Love You Man doesn't have anything to do with Apatow; it can't help but draw comparisons to his body of work, having cast its two leads from his regular stable of actors. To his credit, John Hamburg compares favourably to Apatow, as his film - like Apatow's - never loses sight of the believable and sympathetic relationship at the core of his fim. The jokes are that much more enjoyable when they're coming from a place of real heart and soul, and Hamburg clearly understands that.
Highly recommended if you're looking for a light hearted, enjoyable night at the movies.
Worth noting - This film contains two of my favourite things in a mainstream comedy: Ian Roberts and Matt Walsh. Both have one-line parts, continuing their streak of being the best and most prolific bit-part players in Hollywood. I swear, watching comedies these days is like playing a game of Where's Wally? (also worth looking out for, if not in this film then in other recent comedies - Joe Lo Truglio, Matt Besser, Ken Jeung, Kevin Corrigan. I should turn this into a drinking game).
hmmm ... i agree with all of it except for the assumption that because Peter has a brother then he shouldn't have an issue finding a best man. Granted, I don't have a brother, but there would be a fair portion of the audience who are in a similar situation to myself, and I didn't find it all that bizarre or jarring even from the outset that he would not necessarily want his brother as his best man, particularly, as the film indicates, because he doesn't see his family all that much.
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