Cinematic Confession Time

By Ray DeRousse / July 1, 2011

This is supposed to be a review of sorts, but I want to get something off of my conscience as well. And yes, I apparently have a conscience. I hated I LOVE YOU, MAN from the first time I saw the trailer for the film. Frankly, I found the "I need to find a quick friend to be my best man" premise to be offensive. From the trailer, I thought Paul Rudd's character was some sort of pansy-ass who was simply out to make a superficial relationship in order to fill out a spot in his wedding party. In my mind, it was obvious what would happen the week after the wedding: Rudd's character would stop calling his new friend, since he'd gotten what he needed out of the guy. Besides making male friendship seem like an impossible joke, the other thing I despised about the trailer was the fact that it revealed Andy Samberg as Rudd's younger brother. I was screaming inside: Why not just ask him to be your best man, you stupid little bitch?!?!? I mean, it's Andy F. Samberg ... who cares if the character is supposed to be gay ... he's still damn cool. Often in this business of writing about movies, we get DVD's and advance screenings of upcoming films. I didn't get one for this movie. So I swore to myself that I wasn't going to watch this intolerable affront to male relationships. The premiere came and went without a review from me. A group of coupled friends went to see the film the weekend it opened, but I turned down their invitation to go. I had now developed a chip on my shoulder the size of Christiano Ronaldo's ego. I simply wasn't going to see this movie unless I had cancer and this movie was proven to be the cure. Then, last night, I was enjoying an early dinner with one of my best friends. And, after a delicious plate of shrimp nachos smothered in chihuahua cheese chased by a few 32oz. drafts of Dos Equis Amber, my buddy suggested going to a movie. His pick? I LOVE YOU, MAN. I recoiled in my seat. I countered with CRANK: HIGH VOLTAGE, before sense returned to me (I was drunk). He wouldn't budge. Then I suggested STATE OF PLAY - we both laughed. In the end, my buddy won me over. So we went to see I LOVE YOU, MAN. And you know what? It was a pretty decent comedy. Rudd plays Peter Klaven, a guy who has an unnatural affinity for female relationships. Because of this, he never managed to build any substantial male friendships. The beginning of the film sets this up well, with Rudd believably uncomfortable in all-male situations. But when he proposes to his amazing girlfriend Zooey (Rashida Jones), he suddenly realizes that he has no male friends with whom to share this moment in his life ... so he sets out to find someone. All of this could have been preposterous, but Rudd anchors the film with a low-key performance. However, the film hits high-octane with a brilliant comedic performance from Jason Segel as Sydney, the friend Peter eventually discovers. The trailers make the Sydney character look like a loud-mouthed buffoon, but Segel gives the character a surprising amount of warmth and attitude; it would be easy to hang with a guy like that. It's a key element to sell this fairly silly premise. I must also add that I loved Andy Samberg's low-key take on Peter's gay brother. Even though I still think it's a little unbelievable that Peter wouldn't be close to his younger brother, the movie tries to give an explanation that almost works. Writer/director John Hamberg keeps things moving nicely, although it occasionally teeters into Nora Ephron territory. This is especially true near the end, with a fairly standard "sappy ending" that felt a bit tacked on. Hamberg also shows a pretty keen ear for female conversations, which I found impressive. Overall, the film has a few solid laughs and some winning comedic performances. So that is my confession. I judged a book by its cover, and I was wrong. Thanks, Chris!