By Aaliyah Myhand

i love you man

In the offbeat Hollywood “bromantic” comedy, I Love You, Man a thirty-something real estate agent is finally engaged to the woman of his dreams, Zooey (played by Rashida Jones), yet finds himself in a pickle. As his upcoming wedding date looms around the corner, he must face the fact the he does not have any male friends, which inadvertently means that he will not have a best man. Thus, he must go on the search for someone to step up to the plate and show that he is not the social outcast that his family and fiancé thinks that he is.

Peter Klaven, played by Paul Rudd, is the realtor who is uncomfortably awkward while also charming. He has always gotten along better with women rather than men, but feels a need to secure a male best friend to be his best man. The issue in doing so is that he is hopelessly clueless when it comes to socializing with those of the same gender. Undeniably, there is not anyone better than Rudd at pulling the audience to feel for Peter and his lack of social skills and his pitiful isolation from most people. By the end of it all and to much surprise, he becomes the most realatable character of the movie.
In a desperate attempt to find a best friend, Peter decides to go man-shopping by going on “man dates” with people he meets on the internet – which results in predictable outcomes. None of the face-to-face introduction went further than having a dinner. There seems to be a string of luckless efforts until the appearance of a carefree individual who, in hindsight, would be everything and more that Peter could have ever asked for.

I’m sure that any man would love to have a friend like Sydney Fife. This is because Sydney, played by Jason Segel, encompasses all of the luxuries, privileges, and freedoms that men wish they could give themselves and act upon. Unfortunately, most men do not succumb to these desires because of fear of being alone or “uncool” in the eyes of their peers and women. Sydney, however, is unapologetically, comfortable in his own skin and could care less about how is perceived by the public.

John Haburg’s adult comedy pushes to explore what it truly means to have and be a friend, and that there is someone out there for everyone. As children, it is easy to make friends; you may invite another child to play on the swings with you and boom, you are now friends. As adults, making friends seems almost impossible and quite frankly, terrifying. This movie illuminates the trivial nature of doing so by depicting realistic situations with even more realistic characters than other productions. Overall, I Love You, Man is indisputably hilarious; it is funny in the aspect of physical humor along with R-rated language and jokes that can be cringe-worthy while also downright comical. You will leave this movie uplifted and probably still laughing, but that’s the purpose of comedies, right?