Movie Review - I Love You Man

I Love You Man (3 of 5): I'm almost ready to say "enough already". These movies are coming a little to quickly ( I know what that's like) one after another. I Love You tells the story of a sensitive guy who is recently engaged to a beautiful woman. Through the planning of the wedding, it becomes painfully obvious that the male lead (Rudd) lacks a network of social male friends. In an attempt to gain some independence and not be so smothering, as well as to find a best man for the wedding, Rudd engages in a series of "man-dates". These dates culminate with Rudd discovering Segal the quint-essential "man" who slowly weens Rudd away from a lifestyle of Appletinis and musicals to a life of beer drinking and playing in a Rush cover band.

The movie flows well, but I really didn't find myself laughing. The one strength of the movie; which is a common thread to the success of this brand of movie, is the ability to connect and identify with the characters. Anyone who has been in a serious relationship or marriage knows how incredibly difficult it is to maintain your identity with respect to your existing friends. You understand the constant balancing act between hanging out with friends and your relationship responsibilities; especially when either of those two dynamics are new to you. Rudd's character is the most socially awkward on screen personality since George Costanza or Larry David from Curb your Enthusiasm. Coincidentally the same person essentially.

The man dates are comical, and the constant awkwardness of Rudd trying to fit in and connect using "guy-slang" are painfully familiar and funny. However, overall, I really found very few laugh out loud moments. But maybe that's the point; life really isn't always that funny; rather a series of socially awkward moments punctuated by a few amusing comments. Very few of which were found in this review...