Monday, April 18, 2011

I Love You Man


I Love You Man, directed by Ivan Reitman and John Hamburg, is by far one of my favorite bromantic comedy films out there. Peter Klaven (Paul Rudd) is a real estate agent with aspirations to move into property development though perhaps lacking in the self-esteem to reach his dreams. When he proposes to Zooey (Rashida Jones), she calls her closest hundred or so friends to share the happy news, and Peter realizes that having put effort into his work or his girlfriends over the years, he let his male friendships fall by the wayside, and he doesn’t have even one close male friend he might want to tell, much less to ask to be his best man. Peter stumbles into the middle of a girl’s night out with Zooey’s friends, and accidentally overhears them wonder whether his lack of friends to distract him will make him an impossibly clingy husband, and calls in help from parents (Jane Curtin and J.K. Simmons) and brother (Andy Samberg). They set him up on an unsuccessful series of ‘man-dates,’ until he meets a kindred spirit in Sidney (Jason Segel) who crashes an open house Peter is running to mooch free food. It is very interesting and clever how Hamburg has the film explore the complexities of modern, grown-up friendships, and especially the awkwardness of making new friends in middle age, while still retaining a bracing sense of adolescent humour. So thanks to the incredible chemistry of its two leads, I Love You Man, stands as one my favorite and a must see bromantic comedy.

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