Column:
Bromance blowout
Rudd saves movie as -- shock -- a normal dude.
Published April 2, 2009
You know what? We get it. Yes Hollywood, we get it. We really do. Paul Rudd is a bro. Jason Segel is a bro. Everyone in the Judd Apatow universe is a bro. You have made this abundantly clear.
And dick jokes, "man caves" and asinine nicknames -- this is the stuff your bros deal in. It's in all of your movies (full disclosure: I am aware that this is not technically a Judd Apatow film).
But there is something else we have realized: Your characters are better when they aren't bro-ed out to the max. Paul Rudd can be affable, quite funny and charming, while Jason Segel can be sweet, vulnerable and, of course, utterly hilarious. Yes, even those who aren't broin' it up 24/7 can still have all the best aspects of a bro (see Segel in "Forgetting Sarah Marshall" or Michael Cera) and be funny. Heck, even characters in your own movies have done it.
So why you continue to marginalize their overall range in favor of the lowest common denominator, film after film, is beginning to become a mystery.
And this is most certainly what "I Love You, Man" is -- an unadulterated, broed out to the max, romp. There are bitchy women jokes, vaguely homophobic jokes, poop jokes and endless manhood jokes. Like they have been before, many of them are funny, but more and more often they are beginning to miss.
So it is not surprising that the film's greatest strength is Rudd's decidedly toned down bro-self. He's more of a, oh, what do you call it? Regular guy.
He plays Peter Klaven, an unaggressive real estate agent happily engaged.
Only there's a problem. An incomprehensible, completely absurd problem that could only exist for the sake of a plot in movie. He has no guy friends. We are told it's because he was always more of a "girlfriend guy," putting all of his energy into his relationships. Apparently even in junior high and the high school years before he could drive.
So without any guy friends he has no viable best man. Enter the montage where Peter goes on a series of "bro dates" in attempt to find his bro-mate. Predictably, the "dates" go disastrously (and admittedly, hilariously) and Klaven is stuck having to ask his dad to be his best man.
Enter bro savant, Sydney Fife (Segel). The two hit it off like bro magic and in a matter of weeks, Fife is the obvious choice for Klaven's best man. From there, the usual romantic comedy complications ensue, only applied to the bros.
Is it funny? Yes. Is Segel's character tiresome? Absolutely. Is Rudd's normal dude still hilarious despite his lack of a "jerk-off station"? Most certainly. Maybe the rest of the gang should take notice. You don't need to be a broasaurus rex to get the unwashed masses to laugh. You just need to be funny.
