I Love you too, man!

I think romantic comedies are my favorite genre. They are easy to follow, easy to relate to and for the most part, you always know what to expect. It’s no surprise that the bromantic comedy I love you, Man, is an enjoyable film to watch.

            Paul Rudd plays a Real Estate agent looking for his first big sell. In the opening scene of the movie he gets engaged to the beautiful Rashida Jones. They both quickly realize that Peter (Rudd) has no friends…. at all. While he is active (fencing?) and works in a business that relies heavily on networking he lacks interpersonal skills that will gain him buddies i. e. he’s not an asshole. Peter gets along better with women because, well, he can be himself and make root beer floats with chocolate straws from Pepperidge Farms for them. In desperate need for a best man at his wedding, he sets out to find some new guy friends.

            With the help of his gay brother (Andy Sanborn) his mother and an Internet friend-finding site, he goes on a series of disasteris “man-dates”. That is until Sydney (Jason Segal) walks in to his life. Sydney lives alone in Venice beach. He has a “man cave” equipped with multiple TV’s, beer, bongs, and enough musical equipment to choke KISS. Just like all other romantic comedies these opposites attract, interfere with each others lifestyles and relationships and they both end up wondering what they saw in each other in the first place.

            It’s a formulaic plot and you can see the ending coming a mile away, but it works.  Everything down to the typical “falling in love” montage seems believable. You like Sydney and you like Peter and damn it, you'll want to see them make it work! The tertiary characters in this movie are somewhat fun and include Jamie Pressley, Jan Favrou, Jane Cutin and J.K. Simmions. They are a little underdeveloped but who really cares, the movie isn’t about them.

            I haven’t laughed out loud this much at a movie since last years Forgetting Sarah Marshal, which also included Segal and Rudd. I love you, Man toned down the gross out humor of last year (sorry everyone, Jason keeps it in his pants this time) and replaced it with some heartfelt awkwardness. Neither inventive nor groundbreaking…just a damn good flick.

My vote; what have you been doing? Go see this movie…and bring a friend.