Taking the bromance subgenre to its logical end point, I Love You, Man follows engaged, friendless Peter Klaven (Paul Rudd) as he embarks on a series of platonic dates with guys to find a best man, and eventually falls into a budding hetero relationship with single Rush fanatic Sydney Fife (Jason Segel). John Hamburg’s film (co-written with Larry Levin) is basically an extended Seinfeld episode in which male friendship is recast, through traditional rom-com scenarios and goofy innuendo, as a romantic affair, replete with a by-now familiar mixture of bawdy humor and sentimental sweetness. I Love You, Man is amusing enough in its formulaic, visually blah way, thanks in large part to the chemistry shared by Rudd and Segel. Rudd inhabits Peter with his usual brand of wimpy everyman snark while adding small traces of pitiful insecurity, and Segel undercuts Sydney’s self-possession with hints of doubt and loneliness. More importantly, the leads bring unpredictable verbal wit to drearily limp incidents – really, is rocking out to Rush all that funny? – though no matter the number of amusing quips, Hamburg’s film still ends up feeling like a tossed-off Judd Apatow photocopy.
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