This film, really isn't my kind of film. However I have actually seen it twice already, mainly for Paul Rudd who I think is charming and hilarious and also for the fact that the film turned out to be genuinely hilarious. Much like how I turned my nose up at Forgetting Sarah Marshall and it is now one of my most watched films of all time. That being said, as a reviewer I have to approach and look at a film a little differently, so whether this'll end up being a positive review is yet to be seen.
Why am I doing this film? The other day I made the 'Slappin' da bass' reference for some reason, it then was on telly that night (my psychic powers!) and suddenly everyone was talking about it. A few days later I got dumped and thought this the perfect medicine or hoping it'd at least cheer me up. Wow, this was a long intro, reminiscent of the old days. Well enjoy anyway!
The funny thing is, I related to Paul Rudd's character so much in this film. My entire life I've gotten on better with women, not in a sexual way, but I just guess I'm a pretty feminine guy. I like to express my feelings and shit like that. I don't like crap like sports or strangely homosexual rituals like grabbing onto other men to prove their dominance or whatever... and as the conflict hits that Paul Rudd has no friends because he is a 'girlfriend guy', it's where it cements just how much I am like him.
Once I get with a girl, I devote myself to them. A girl will always say 'I want you to have your own life, your own friends' but then if you go out with your friends, they get pissed off. If you haven't seen them in a few days and only sent a few texts or made only one call, they get pissed off. You have no fucking choice but to drag the relationship to the foreground and push the friendships to the background. A girl can't seem to tell the difference between a man who is just not letting a relationship rule him and some dickwad who acts like he's single, goes out and gets drunk all the time and flirts with all the women he meets. You probably think I'm on some kind of tangent or something here but I'm not, if you haven't seen the movie, I've just told you the plot.
Thank fully I have enough similarities with Sidney, Segel's character, to not feel like this movie is calling me a total loser. And plus, Sidney is the funniest character.
Honestly whether it's simply because this is my third viewing or whether it's just the fact I'm concentrating so hard to find things to critique, this movie really isn't very funny, I mean as it goes along it starts to build momentum and gets a lot funnier, but especially in the first half an hour or so I think I watched the thing with a straight face and the final half an hour or so is so rammed with clichés I found myself sighing more than I was laughing. That being said Rudd and Segel have truly amazing chemistry, I know it's part of the plot of the movie like, 'oh shit these guys seem like girlfriend and boyfriend, drama!' but it's more than that, these guys seem to be having a genuinely good time. Which at the same time totally pisses me off, they get paid to go have fun, damn them! I just know this was hell of a lot funnier on my first viewing. Still the whole 'Slappin' Da Bass' thing still got me this time as well as it did the first, it had me in bits, hilarious. Paul Rudd and his accents.
Plus there are a fair few problems with it cinematically too. Namely the use of stock footage that they make no attempt at trying to hide the fact that it is, with it cutting from the quality of the film itself to the much lower quality of the stock footage. It looks horrible.
Also, what is with the dialogue in this movie? I know Paul Rudd keeps pointing out how weird he talks, but he talks pretty much like every other male character in the movie and no one seems to care. It comes across really weird and makes all the dialogue sound really unnatural.
And of course the clichés, oh the clichés! I understand this is a Hollywood production, it is a romcom one of the most unimaginative genres out there but I mean it at least tries to do something new with the whole guy trying to find a best friend since he's already got the girlfriend thing down. Plus characters like Peter's gay brother manage to be pretty unique. But in terms of structure, conflict and resolution this film goes practically exactly where you expect it to go, sure some of the cause and effect is changed, some of the character archetypes are moved around to different places but sadly I Love You, Man just manages to be a rather amusing but ultimately generic romcom in a sea of generic romcoms which ultimately will destine it to the land of obscurity.
One of the biggest parts of the movie is the question 'Why am I getting married?', going through a breakup as I am right now, I found myself retrospecting a lot during this film. I'm a girlfriend guy too, I've been dating since I was 14 and I know I'm only 20 years old but I've had my fair share of serious relationships. So, when does it happen, how will I know, how old do I have to be when I get with that girl and know not just that I want too, but I will do, I will spend the rest of my life with them. And be sure enough of this fact that I can get down on my knee and propose to them, or whatever else. It's honestly a thought that never crossed my mind once in my last relationship, but maybe before I commit myself to anything again, questioning why I'm even there in the first place may be something I should start doing, rather than charging head first through life not caring about the consequences until they smack me right in the head because I don't lift my head up enough to see where I am going.
So do I recommend this? Ultimately enjoyable but also ultimately average. As it always is with romcoms this does nothing new with the genre or the conventions. So it happens to be an enjoyable entry into the genre but never makes any attempt to rise up. So take that as you will.
Think About It!
-Locke
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