Classic Movie Review: 'I Love You Man' Starring Paul Rudd

I Love You, Man (2009)

Directed by John Hamburg

Written by John Hamburg

Starring Jason Segal, Paul Rudd, Rashida Jones, Andy Samberg, Sarah Burns

Release Date March 20th, 2009

Published March 19th, 2024

As I write this reflection on 2009's I Love You Man, Paul Rudd is returning to theaters in the newest sequel to Ghostbusters, Ghostbusters Frozen Empire. I've always loved Paul Rudd's work but he's always impressed me with his comic chops. He's a killer straight man to wacky outcasts. Whether it's Seth Rogan in Knocked Up, Seann William Scott in Role Models, or here with Jason Segal in I Love You Man, Rudd has the ability to elevate and yes and his co-stars in the best ways. He grounds the oddballs with his realism while capably rising to the craziness as the plot twists and turns to a conclusion. Rudd is among our most dynamic leading men.

I Love You Man was released 15 years ago as I write this but the truthful way it captured the awkwardness of male friendship in the era of fragile masculinity, still feels timely, even as men are getting better at accepting each other. Have you ever seen two straight guys try to hug each other? For whatever dumb reason, mostly toxic masculinity, this hug is about as awkward than bad racial humor. There's that whole bend at the waste, the handshake pulling each other in and the light fist pound on the back and then the quick snap back as if holding this position too long would automatically turn the man gay. I Love You Man captured the exquisite awkwardness of modern male bonding in ways even the man-hug cannot.

Paul Rudd stars in I Love You Man as Peter Klaven, a desperately normal, boringly nice guy who is about to get married. We join the story on the night Peter asks his girlfriend Zoey (Rashida Jones) to marry him, and she says yes. As she is calling every human being she has ever met, Peter has no one to call. As a painfully funny and comically uncomfortable dinner the following night with Peter's parents (Jane Curtin and J.K Simmons) and Peter's brother Robby (Andy Samberg) makes clear, Peter has never really had any close male friends. He has never had a problem bonding with women but never guys.

In need of a best man, and in need of showing his wife to be that he has a life of his own, Peter sets out to meet a new best friend. Help from his mom and brother leads to a few horribly awkward, and terribly funny moments, including a dinner with a guy named Doug (Thomas Lennon) that goes terrifically wrong. Per a misunderstanding, Peter ends up with Doug's tongue in his mouth. Needless to say, this was not the man-date that Peter had in mind. Eventually however, Peter finally meets a dude he can be slightly comfortable with.

This man's name is Sydney Fife (Jason Segal). Sydney drops in on one of Peter's house showings, Peter's in high-end real estate, and the two bond over Sydney's ability to read people and his honest forthright humor wins Pete over. The guys exchange business cards and after Peter leaves one truly mortifying message on Sydney's machine, Sydney takes pity on him and invites him out for drinks. The guys hit it off over some fish tacos and Peter is on his way to having his first best friend.

The natural and somewhat predictable complication here comes as Peter's friendship with Sydney begins to get in the way of his relationship with Zoey. He begins missing ritual events with Zoey. He skips work to hang out with Sydney and his work suffers a little. Zoey becomes concerned and attempts by her to get to know Sydney go badly. Director John Hamburg does little to subvert the predictable nature of this plot. What he does instead is rely on his supremely talented stars Rudd, Segal and Jones to find the funny and keep us from dwelling on the predictable. The formula works.

Paul Rudd and Jason Segal are a tremendous comic tag team. They gave us a preview of their comic chemistry in Rudd's limited scenes in Segal's Forgetting Sarah Marshall where, in a rarity for his career, Rudd is the weirdo and someone else is the straight man. In I Love You Man Rudd and Segal are a full on comedy team and a very, very funny comedy team. Where Rudd is charmingly befuddled and baffled by modern male bonding, Segal's Sydney is one of the most comfortable in his own skin types that we've seen on screen in a while. Segal makes Sydney's quirks resonate as real traits of a real odd but very sweet and kind of lonely guy. Segal's comfort level and coolness are a great way to blunt the edges of Rudd's sharper, more agitated and awkward performance.

Indeed, Rudd has moments that are so clumsy and discomfiting that they go beyond merely awkward and into the realm of unbelievably embarrassing. Thankfully, Rudd finds the right balance between so awkward it hurts and believably humorous discomfort. If he failed to find that balance I Love You Man could have been unwatchable. But, instead of being so awkward it hurts, I Love You Man is often so funny it hurts. Director John Hamburg never underlines the points, he gives his actors a little distance and allows them to find the funny within the construct of a pretty typical and easily readable plot. The approach works because of an exceptionally talented cast and two leads that work really, really well together. I Love I Love You Man.

There was a grave danger of I Love You Man being no-homo the movie. Thankfully, the movie tackles male discomfort directly and boldly without relying on offensive stereotypes or stock characters. By focusing on the generalized anxiety that can come with approaching middle age and trying to forge an emotional bond with someone, I Love You Man alleviates the 'no-homo' concerns and grounds the comedy in anxiety and the enthusiasm that comes with finding you have chemistry with a stranger. Many will claim that the movie hasn't aged well, and I understand their perspective. I feel, however, that the movie is navigating a richer comic environment.

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