Review

Review Date: 22-March-09
Spoiler Rating: Medium
Juju Judgment: Jubilation!

I Love You, Man (2009)

Nothing beats the unexpected joy of finding something fresh at the cineplex. So three cheers for I Love You, Man, a movie which breathes new life into the moribund genre of romantic comedy. This picture opens with a bended-knee engagement, ends with a perfect seaside wedding, and features the cutest couple of the year, but for once the bride is not the center of attention. Not when groom Peter Klaven (Paul Rudd) has a hole in his heart where a masculine buddy should be. Having always relied on girlfriends as confidantes and pals, Peter has never felt the lack of male companionship until his engagement brings it to the fore. While his fiancée (Rashida Jones) enjoys the intimacy of a close-knit sisterhood, he does not have a single candidate for best man. He starts to feel like a freak.

I Love You, Man embraces the blurring definitions of gender and orientation in the age of girl power and metrosexuals. The issue is not whether Peter should be more macho (he is handy in the kitchen and loves The Devil Wears Prada), but whether he can be healthy without relationships outside the arms of his mate. Some things are better shared with someone you don't want to impress and sleep with every night. So Peter enlists his family and combs the personal ads to find a friend. His "mandates" do not bear fruit, but a chance meeting with Sydney Fife (Jason Segel) does. Sydney is a shaggy, overgrown boy, decent enough to earn Peter's affection yet guy-ish (read "crude") enough to inspire Peter's awe.

Nothing Meg Ryan or Kate Hudson has ever done can rival watching these two men come together with the fits and starts and comic awkwardness of blushing sweethearts. Peter keeps trying (and failing) to gain dude credibility by coining nicknames and phrases like "toats m'goats" for the already colloquial "totally." He is just so thrilled by the feeling of fellowship. For his part, Sydney loves having someone to come to his lair at a moment's notice and jam on guitars or listen to his unvarnished opinions. They become so tight so quickly that Peter's fiancée, initially supportive, grows worried at what Peter's new acquaintance has unleashed. She need not worry, though. There is room enough at the altar for everyone to say the three little words they want to hear. To Peter and Sydney's union I most definitely say "I do."

Copyright © 2009 The Jujube (M. I. Kim). All rights reserved.