By Hilary Rowe
Mar 30, 2009
I don’t get to the movies very often these days. So, it is especially disappointing to waste my time on an artistically and morally bankrupt film that lacks even vague entertainment value. The one thing that redeems my experience of I Love You, Man is that by writing this review, I may be able to spare others the agony.
I Love You, Man begins with a simple premise that has a lot of potential. Paul Rudd plays Peter Klaven, who proposes to his girlfriend and, in the process of choosing their wedding party, realizes that he has no close male friends. He embarks on a series of "man dates" to find fun and meaningful male friendship. In the hands of even a single talented filmmaker, this could have been a brilliant movie.
It isn’t only the unnecessary and crude sexual humor; it isn’t just the blatant misunderstanding of marriage; it isn’t even the irritating personalities of all the film’s characters. What ruined this movie for me was all of the above without any decent writing or acting. I’m not opposed on principle to recommending an inappropriate movie to mature audiences if it is genuinely funny (There’s Something about Mary comes to mind). But, in 105 minutes, I Love You, Man made me laugh once. And, with an evening movie costing around $10, it was a very expensive laugh.