Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #333 in Movie
• Released on: 2009-11-09
• Rating: R (Restricted)
• Running time: 105 minutes

Customer Reviews

The Comical Fate of the Sensitive Male
At the core of what looks on the surface to be a standard summer buddy movie is an intriguing premise: What does become of the overly sensitized male when confronted with the reality that all his closest friends are female and that he is at a complete loss to find any groomsmen, in particular, a best man, for his wedding? It's not an earth-shattering dilemma to address, yet the situation gives rise to a lot of amusing questions about what constitutes masculine behavior in our supposedly evolved society. Fortunately, director/co-writer John Hamburg (Along Came Polly) has fashioned a 2009 comedy (with co-writer Larry Levin) full of shrewd observations and hilarious gags that transcend formula and elevate the story into something fresh and genuinely likeable.

When sweet-natured L.A. real estate broker Peter Klaven decides to marry Zooey, his girlfriend of eight months, it dawns on both of them that he has no close male friends. Whispers about his manhood and her fear of him being too clingy as a husband lead Peter to set up a series of disastrous man-dates, one being the predictable mistaken gay date. However, it's at an open house at Lou Ferrigno's manse that he meets his personality opposite - Sydney Fife, a slovenly, blunt albeit socially observant slacker. As it turns out, their differences complement one another in a way that makes them best buddies almost from the get-go - that and a common obsession for the 1970's power band Rush. Naturally, Zooey starts to resent Sydney's burgeoning role in Peter's life - and things get complicated before the inevitable conclusion.

Two of Judd Apatow's familiar rep company star. Finally at the center of a major movie, Paul Rudd is ideally cast as Peter since the role takes advantage of how he combines his boyish charm and unpredictable nebbishness into a memorable character. In fact, he manages to give Peter's awkward attempts to overcome his social anxiety a certain emotional resonance. We feel every painful step he takes in replicating Sydney's free spirit, and it becomes easy to root for his success. Much better cast here than as the self-conscious lead in last year's Forgetting Sarah Marshall, Jason Segel offers his doughy likeability to a role that suits his casual, lumbering personality, even when he exposes an intimate secret between Peter and Zooey in a wedding party dinner toast.

If the interplay between Rudd and Segel feels familiar from Apatow comedies like The 40-Year-Old Virgin and Knocked Up, it is a coincidence that Hamburg takes full advantage of to keep the movie comically involving. Rashida Jones brings a raspy appeal to Zooey, although she is kept mostly at the sidelines. Also underused are Jaime Pressly as Zooey's tart-tongued friend Denise and as Peter's parents, J.K. Simmons (playing the same wiseass father he played in Juno) and especially Jane Curtin. Jon Favreau has a thankless role as Denise's alpha-male jerk of a husband, while Andy Samberg makes a most unconvincing gay as Peter's sleep-around, personal trainer brother. There are plenty of laughs throughout its slightly long 105-minute running time, but what may surprise you is the number of insightful moments that this affectionate, satirical comedy provides.

The Rebirth Of Platonic Love Between Men!
The United States, in general, is quite a homophobic country. Men are expected to have platonic feelings of love only for immediate family members, such as parents, grandparents, siblings and their own offspring. Sharing one's nonsexual feelings of love outside this tiny world is basically considered taboo. In other cultures this is certainly not the case, something I had the good fortune to experience first hand!

I Love You, Man does a superb job of comparing and contrasting heterosexual women's emotionally rich, same-sex friendships with heterosexual men's typically barren, same-sex friendships. It exposes the hypocrisy that it's okay for women to hug and be emotionally close and talk in graphic details about their sex lives amongst themselves, but NOT for a man to do the same exact thing!

What a refreshing and insightful film! This brilliant story also compares male homosexual and heterosexual same-sex relationships and on the surface, at least, they are indistinguishable! This might be news to some people - but all well-adjusted human beings have a yearning for emotionally rewarding relationships!

And, one person can not fulfill ALL your emotional needs! It's really that simple!

Thank you Hollywood for taking such a risk in making such a profound film with a great sense of humor! It shows you believe a certain segment of the American public is mature enough to want to explore the meaning of platonic love between men!

Platonic Studies

DVD Loaded with Fun Extras
There is an audio commentary by director John Hamburg and actors Paul Rudd and Jason Segel. The three guys joke and banter with each other like old friends while heaping a lot of praise on their cast-mates as this track veers into a shameless love fest at times. They also point out acquaintances and crew members who have small roles in the film. They do tell some amusing filming anecdotes which somewhat salvages this commentary.

"The Making of I Love You, Man" is pretty standard press kit material as key cast and crew members talk about the characters and the film's plot. There are plenty of clips from the film along with behind-the-scenes footage.

"Extras" features 22 minutes of outtakes as we see the actors improvise various takes for a given scene that is pretty funny, especially whenever Paul Rudd is involved as he comes up with some amusing variations on dialogue.

Also included are six extended scenes that feature the cast riffing beyond what we saw in the film.

There are three deleted scenes which feature Peter going on a man date where he plays a game of rugby and gets injured. There is a scene where Peter and his brother talk about man crushes and friend sluts over bowling. And we see The State's David Wain as a wedding photographer getting Peter and his friends to do some silly poses.

Finally, there is a pretty funny gag real as cast and crew goof around on the set between and during takes. They also take pleasure in making each other crack up.