OK film fans, last night I ranted about the cult of Judd Apatow and how his influence and disciples have spread through Hollywood like pod people. Tonight I give you another example of the tendrils and a contender for funniest comedy of the year.
I Love You, Man was directed and co-written by John Hamburg, a funny guy who has worked on a ton of stuff with Ben Stiller (he wrote Meet the Parents and Zoolander) and after a few false starts was able to hone his directing skills working on a small but loved TV show called Undeclared. That little TV show was created by... Judd Apatow. Apatow's influence is felt here in the tone and realism of the situations which rise above the standard Hollywood fare.
It's the story of two men with different paths and outlooks on life who find out they complement each other as friends. Peter Klaven (Paul Rudd - there's that name again) has just gotten engaged to his girlfriend of eight months Zooey Rice (the very cute and funny Rashida Jones). When she promptly calls all of her best friends and has a ladies night with them in celebration he realizes he has literally no close friends. With his nuptials impending he decides to find some new friends, no easy task for a man in his thirties.
After going on a series of horrible man dates and a disastrous guys night (#4 on this list) with the husband (Jon Favreau) of Zooey's best friend (Jaime Pressly), he meets Sydney Fife (Jason Segel, who just happened to be on the aforementioned Undeclared). Sydney is the type of guy most guys would like to have as a friend. He's the type of wild, unhinged guy we all knew in college, always able to ratchet up the fun in any situation. But it's a shtick that seems a little odd in a grown man, even a little desperate. Sydney lives his life without compromise though, he calls it like he sees it and does whatever he wants whenever he wants to. It's a life most men wave goodbye to as they settle into careers, relationships and parenthood.
When they meet Peter is drawn to Sydney's sense of freedom. He should be, he's the poster boy for a guy in desperate need of removing the stick from his ass. This is manifested in his inability to use male slang and euphemisms mastered by most boys when they're 12. He also has some issues with accents and inflection that might have been helped by spending a little more time hanging out with the guys. Peter's not a bad guy, he's just always put his girlfriends ahead of his friends. When Peter first hangs out with Sydney he is introduced to his Man Cave, a converted garage behind his house complete with a drum set, flat-screen, wet bar and a special area for "private man activities" or as Sydney would say, "a jerk off station." Yeah, that pretty much sums it up.
What makes Sydney a great guys' guy is also what makes him less than the best friend Zooey was thinking of for her man. He's crass, inappropriate and disrespectful of the boundaries of their relationship. As their big day approaches she becomes less and less enthusiastic about the possibility of Sydney being Peter's best man. Then there's the issue of Peter loaning a sizable amount of cash to Sydney for questionable reasons. What's worse, he starts to get into Peter's head about why he's getting married.
The comedy here is on target as a rom-com, a buddy movie and gross-out comedy. But what makes it one of the best films of the year (yeah, it's a moviefone list, but still) is its heart. More than the crap Hollywood usually shills, like Valentine's Day and Old Dogs, there is actual sincerity here. There's genuine chemistry in both of the relationships Peter has and the dialogue, observations and comedy here all feel natural. Where The Hangover, another big comedy from 2009, is funny in a more overt WTF was that kind of way, I Love You, Man is just plain funny. In the end, I think it's a better film too.
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