Review: I Love You, Man

I Love You, Man (2009)
starring: Paul Rudd, Jason Segel, Rashida Jones, Andy Samberg, J.K. Simmons, Jon Favreau, Jamie Preslly
dir. John Hamburg

I feel like we've reached a tipping point with this latest movement of comedy. It's still ten times better than the Epic Movie (2007), Date Movie (2006), Meet The Spartans (2008) schlock that we can expect every year, but there seems to be a level of diminishing returns.

Don't get me wrong, I think Paul Rudd, Jason Segel and the rest of the cast are comic gems. They understand timing and how to deliver a gag without it feeling jokey. They are very good at improv and adding a little extra oomph to a scene. But I'm starting to feel that it's their ability to improv that is starting to bog these things down. It makes me feel like there is laziness in the script and decide they can fix it while shooting. Yes, things change while shooting, but with each passing film, they're starting to falter more and more.

The plot and structure itself could have been worked out on single post-it note and there is very little for anyone to do other than our two leads. There are also several set ups that lead to weak payoffs, Lou Ferrigno being the biggest disappointment.

In the end it's not the best entry in this Judd Apatow inspired comedy movement, but it's not awful by any stretch. It's a painless jaunt and entertaining to watch Segel and Rudd charm us and each other. It also gets points for not being raunchy. It's a bit of fresh air and the odds of anything being as funny/raunchy as Superbad (2007) is slim to none. There are better, but there are a lot worse. A lot worse.

7.6 out of 10