John Hamburg really lucked out by landing Paul Rudd and Jason Segel for the leads in his new comedy I Love You, Man. His last movie, the unpleasant, unfunny Along Came Polly, had Ben Stiller at his most irritatingly Stillerian and Jennifer Aniston as a piece of driftwood. Man isn’t any less predictable or more adventurous, but it benefits greatly from a top-notch cast that can effectively polish the mediocre material.

Details

I Love you, Man

Paul Rudd, Jason Segel, Rashida Jones.

Directed by John Hamburg.

Rated R

Beyond the Weekly

IMDb: I Love You, Man

Rotten Tomatoes: I Love You, Man

Rudd plays Peter Klaven, a successful real-estate agent who’s just gotten engaged to Zooey (Jones), the love of his life. When a search for a best man reveals that Peter has no male friends, he embarks on a quest to meet a new best bud in time for his wedding. This is, of course, a stupid premise, and to Hamburg’s credit he dispatches with it quickly—after a handful of disastrous friend dates, Peter gives up on the idea, resigned to being closest to his mom and his wife-to-be. That’s when he meets Sydney Fife (Segel), a self-employed investor with lots of time on his hands. They bond over their shared love for Rush and fish tacos, and soon they’re best friends without Peter even trying.

Although it’s about two straight dudes hanging out, Man follows every recognizable rom-com beat, from the meet-cute to the falling-in-love (er, falling-in-friendship) montage to the third-act misunderstanding to the eventual reconciliation and, as the title implies, declaration of love. Hamburg has surprisingly little insight into male friendship, instead peppering Peter and Sydney’s conversations with stock observations about the differences between men and women. He does, however, have an impressive eye for casting, and the movie is filled with comedy ringers (Jon Favreau, Andy Samberg, Jane Curtin, Jaime Pressly, The State alums Thomas Lennon and Joe Lo Truglio) in supporting parts.

Rudd and Segel, both veterans of numerous Judd Apatow productions, have such an easygoing chemistry that it would probably be fun to watch them shoot the shit for 90 minutes, and many of their best scenes have the feel of good improvisation. As the movie ambles to its predetermined conclusion, it does sag a bit, but Hamburg is never more than a minute or two away from getting something funny out of one of his actors, and that handily makes up for the movie’s shortcomings elsewhere.