August 2009 | blackfilm.com | I Love You, Man (DVD and Blu-ray REVIEW)

Peter (Paul Rudd) is elated when his girlfriend enthusiastically accepts his marriage proposal without hesitation. But only after he and Zooey (Rashida Jones) start to plan their dream wedding does he realize that he doesn’t have a pal to ask to be his best man. Trouble is that, between his fiancé and his demanding job as a realtor to the rich and famous, he’s simply been too preoccupied to hang out with the guys.

With time of the essence, he turns to his gay brother, Robbie (Andy Samberg), for help. With his sibling as a coach, Peter proceeds to go on a series of boy-boy blind dates but this unorthodox approach to male-bonding proves disastrous, as each encounter turns out to be worse than the last.

For instance, Peter discovers that his e-pal Mel (Murray Gershenz) is actually an elderly retiree about 50 years older than the person in the photo of himself he sent over the internet. Then there’s Lonnie (Joe Lo Truglio), a soccer fan who is only interested is in attending L.A. Galaxy games. And the final straw is a dude named Doug (Thomas Lennon) who gets the wrong idea and plants a goodnight kiss on his mouth after a candlelit dinner in a restaurant.

Peter is on the verge of giving up, when he crosses paths with Sydney Fife (Jason Segel) a foulmouthed misogynist living alone in a shack near Venice Beach. Despite their differences, the two hit off and are soon hanging out together virtually 24-7.

Suddenly, we find the normally-nerdy Peter exploring his alpha-male side as if desperate to make the most of his last days of freedom as a bachelor. Such a scenario presents countless opportunities to indulge in crass humor, in this case ranging from frank sex chat to projectile vomiting to doggy scatology to golf slapstick to more frank sex chat.

Needless to say, Peter’s regressive behavior is not lost on Zooey who begins to wonder just what happened to the sensitive soul she thought she was about to wed. So, “Can this marriage be saved?” becomes the burning question at the heart of this bawdy buddy comedy.

As shocking as it is sometimes sublime, I Love You, Man is highly recommended, primarily because of the infectious camaraderie of co-stars Paul Rudd and Jason Segel as well as the casually-captivating chemistry generated by Rashida Jones as the blushing bride to be.