A gay love story? Maybe a little
I Love You, Man (2009)
When I think of the best comics in films at the moment, five names spring to mind; Judd Apatow (‘Funny People’ and ‘Knocked Up’), Seth Rogen (‘Knocked Up’ and ‘Zack and Miri make a Porno’), Jonah Hill (‘Superbad’), Michael Cera (‘Youth in Revolt’) and Jason Segal (‘How I Met Your Mother’). I know, I’m a sucker for Apatow’s comedies, but it’s hard not to be. This however is not an Apatow comedy, it is directed by John Hamburg, director of the famous ‘Meet the parents’ films (soon to be a triliogy) so I expected high things from this film. It stars Jason Segal and Paul Rudd, favourites of Apatow, who already make this look like a good film. The story is a simple one; Peter, Paul Rudd, is getting married. However he has always been closer to girls, so has no real male friends, thus starts a search for a best man. Enter Sydney, Jason Segal. All the way through the film, there are constant laughs, and very funny moments, but unfortunately this is another film that follows the imaginary rules set out for any comedy: Problem, solution, solution comes to an end due to some mistake made by both parties, happily reunited at the end for a happy ending. Also everything seemed to awkward for my personal taste, Especially between Peter and his wife to be Zooey (Rashida Jones), who don’t seem to connect at all. However the onscreen chemistry between Peter and Sydney is something quite special. While I was watching it, I believed that these two were actually the best of mates. Also I thought that the ‘bond’ that the two main characters had was very, very ‘special’ after only a few months. Hints of a gay romance wouldn’t be stretching too far. It’s no Apatow comedy, that’s for sure, but I still enjoyed watching it, and I was disappointed at the end. All in all an enjoyable film, that misses out on the sparks that could have made this good comedy, amazing.
3/5
