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I Love You, Man
EMAILPRINTDreamWorks Pictures (Paramount)
Generally favorable reviews
Based on 34 critic reviews
How did we calculate this?
Based on 61 votes
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Movie Info
Genre(s): Comedy | Romance
Written by:
Larry Levin (& story)
John Hamburg
Directed by: John Hamburg
Release Date:
Theatrical: March 20, 2009
DVD: August 11, 2009
Running Time: minutes, Color
Origin: USA
Summary
RATING: R for pervasive language, including crude and sexual references
Starring Paul Rudd, Jason Segel, Rashida Jones, Andy Samber, J.K. Simmons, Jane Curtin, Jon Favreau, and Jaime Pressly
In I Love You, Man, a comedy from John Hamburg, Peter Klaven is a successful real estate agent who, upon getting engaged to the woman of his dreams, Zooey, discovers, to his dismay and chagrin, that he has no male friend close enough to serve as his Best Man. Peter immediately sets out to rectify the situation, embarking on a series of bizarre and awkward "man-dates," before meeting Sydney Fife, a charming, opinionated man with whom he instantly bonds. But the closer the two men get, the more Peter's relationship with Zooey suffers, ultimately forcing him to choose between his fiancee and his new found "bro," in a story that comically explores what it truly means to be a "friend." (Paramount)
Also On The Web: Internet Movie Database Official Studio Site
What The Critics Said
All critic scores are converted to a 100-point scale. If a critic does not indicate a score, we assign a score based on the general impression given by the text of the review. Learn more...
Entertainment Weekly Owen Gleiberman
By far the best Judd Apatow comedy that Judd Apatow had nothing at all to do with.
Read Full Review >San Francisco Chronicle Peter Hartlaub
It's a hilarious comedy made even more successful because so much of the satire seems fresh.
Read Full Review >Premiere Staff (Not credited)
This movie was absolutely hilarious, and proved that dating might be easy, but making friends is much harder.
Read Full Review >Chicago Sun-Times Roger Ebert
Above all, just plain funny. It's funny with some dumb physical humor, yes, and some gross-out jokes apparently necessary to all buddy movies, but also funny in observations, dialogue, physical behavior and Sydney Fife's observations as a people-watcher.
Read Full Review >Philadelphia Inquirer Carrie Rickey
ILYM is the comedy that Rudd lovers have been waiting for since he first charmed us silly in "Clueless." It explores both the dweeby and heartthrobby sides of this guy whose crooked smile fails to mask his social anxiety.
Read Full Review >The Hollywood Reporter Stephen Farber
It's a rare comedy that actually grows funnier on reflection. It benefits enormously from the talents of the two stars.
Read Full Review >New York Magazine David Edelstein
I Love You, Man is totally formulaic, but the formula is unnervingly (and hilariously) inside out.
Read Full Review >Village Voice Robert Wilonsky
The movie delivers an absolutely complete, fully realized, delightfully novel redo of the hoariest of forms: the meet-cute, love-at-first-sight, break-up-and-make-up, racing-to-the-altar slapstick weepy that's been a staple of cinema since the invention of cinema.
Read Full Review >Chicago Reader J.R. Jones
Apatow became the hottest comedy director in the business by seamlessly combining relationship comedy that didn't bore the guys and wild comedy that didn't nauseate the girls; this is a knockoff, pure and simple, but its wit and ingenuous characters prove how far the bar's been raised.
Read Full Review >Slate Dana Stevens
Despite the movie's many flaws, the two leads' genuine rapport is enough to give the audience a solid contact high.
Read Full Review >Salon.com Stephanie Zacharek
Rudd's timing has always been good, but in I Love You, Man he gives the finest performance of his career, breaking his comic beats down into weird and wonderful fractional increments. It's as if he's invented a new comedy dialect.
Read Full Review >Washington Post Ann Hornaday
After delivering scene-stealing turns in "The 40-Year-Old Virgin" and "Knocked Up" Rudd claims the much-deserved spotlight in I Love You, Man, which in its own endearing way tweaks the very same male-bonding pieties that those movies made a fortune celebrating.
Read Full Review >USA Today Claudia Puig
There are ribald jokes and gross-out episodes, but the movie works because everything hinges on the camaraderie and undeniable chemistry between Rudd and Segel.
Read Full Review >TV Guide Jason Buchanan
The result is a film that's comfortable and familiar, but at the same time feels fresh, fun, and original.
Read Full Review >Baltimore Sun Michael Sragow
This comedy of stereotypes pokes fun at poker buddies and coffee klatches only to make room for variations on more recent stereotypes. Some of the boldest 'types provide the funniest bits, such as Jon Favreau's embodiment of an upscale Stanley Kowalski who treats all-male card games as clan rites.
Read Full Review >Boston Globe Ty Burr
The movie stakes out a whole new arena - male social performance anxiety - and ruthlessly mines it for comic embarrassment.
Read Full Review >Portland Oregonian Marc Mohan
The real revelation is Lou Ferrigno, in his first non-Hulk-related big-screen role since 2002. OK, so he plays himself.
Read Full Review >The Globe and Mail (Toronto) Liam Lacey
Both Rudd and Segel have splendid comic timing and their improvised scenes leap out from the script.
Read Full Review >Rolling Stone Peter Travers
The movie goes soft in its final stages, but Rudd and Segel keep it real. "Sweet, sweet hangin'," says Peter of knowing Sydney. The same goes for the movie.
Read Full Review >Chicago Tribune Michael Phillips
What works best is whatever's completely incidental to the story, such as the totes-magotes/slippy mcgippy jive talk.
Read Full Review >New York Daily News Elizabeth Weitzman
The central love story, platonic though it may be, is entirely between the men. Their connection - and I’m determined to avoid the word “bromance” - saves this film from becoming just another Apatowian wanna-be.
Read Full Review >Time Richard Corliss
The picture is worth catching for the delicate and toxic nuances of Rudd's performance. And one of its funniest corollaries is that it shows how hilarious and instructive a star this perennial supporting player can be.
Read Full Review >The Onion (A.V. Club) Scott Tobias
What saves I Love You, Man, at least partially, is the relaxed chemistry between Paul Rudd and Jason Segel, both very funny men who are genuine enough to push back against a premise that's often maddeningly artificial.
Read Full Review >ReelViews James Berardinelli
Despite the clever premise and several laugh-aloud moments, the film as a whole underwhelms.
Read Full Review >Charlotte Observer Lawrence Toppman
Jon Favreau, J.K. Simmons, Thomas Lennon and half a dozen other capable comedians drift in and out. Yet the movie seems long even at 105 minutes.
Read Full Review >Empire Staff (Not credited)
An amusing scenario gets a big boost from winning performances all round -- which lift it well above other bride vs. buddy 'triangle' japes like, say, "You, Me And Dupree."
Read Full Review >Film Threat Stina Chyn
For most of the film's 104 minutes, the characters have experiences that range from serious to zany. Although I can't formulate a better resolution to the narrative conflicts, I Love You, Man ends on a note that is too cute and conventional to accept.
Read Full Review >Christian Science Monitor Peter Rainer
Rudd is amusing enough; Segel, who towers over Rudd, is amusing, too, though the role seems to have been written for Owen Wilson. Maybe Wilson was busy. Lucky him.
Read Full Review >New York Post Kyle Smith
Watching this movie is like listening to Michael Jackson tell you what real men are like.
Read Full Review >Variety Todd McCarthy
A Judd Apatow clone that's one of the few recent R-rated raunch fests the ubiquitous auteur of larky crudeness actually had nothing to do with, I Love You, Man cranks out the kind of lowball humor that makes you gag on your own laughs.
Read Full Review >Los Angeles Times Betsy Sharkey
Could have taken a more relevant, insightful and even funnier cut at a very rich topic. But the filmmakers didn't; they went with dog poo instead.
Read Full Review >Austin Chronicle Josh Rosenblatt
And like most women in bromance comedies, Jones does exactly what she's supposed to do by doing almost nothing.
Read Full Review >What Our Users Said
The average user rating for this movie is 7.8 (out of 10) based on 61 User Votes
Note: User votes are NOT included in the Metascore calculation.
Jay H. gave it a7:
A marvelous comedy, Paul Rudd is wonderful and superbly cast. J.K. Simmons is great as his father, and Jaime Pressly is excellent in a supporting role. Well written, very entertaining, light and fun. Great pace.
Chad S gave it a9:
Really enjoyed this. Some big laughs with a big heart.
dan e gave it a10:
No swing and miss jokes, I haven't been this satisfied leaving a comedy movie in a very long time. HILARIOUS.
Dalin N. gave it a6:
Some decent laughs. I'd prefer to have my money back that to have watched the movie.
HutchStuff gave it a9:
It always frustrates me when people dismiss films like this because of so called "gross-out" humour. There's a great deal of clever, character-based comedy in I Love You, Man if you check your preconceptions at the door. Just like Knocked Up and Superbad (the best of Apatow's offering's so far) this film marries genuine human humour (not just crude and oafish slapstick as some would have you believe) and genuine human sentiment. That's what makes these films work. Jason Segel and Paul Rudd are as good as any comic actors out there.
Dan B gave it a9:
It may have jokes that high-class movie snobs won't love, but the charm of this film is irresistible to anyone else. Rudd's awkwardness is reminiscent of the feeling I get whenever I watch Carrell on The Office, and it's done just as well here. It sometimes seems as if some of Rudd's more awkward lines were improv rather than originally being in the script. The movie's about letting go of social handicapps, so if you can't be comfortable with (hilarious even if you don't want to admit it) jokes based on homosexuality, projectile-vomiting, and dog poop, then either loosen up or don't watch the movie. If you love this movie as much as I did, you'll be quoting Rudd's hilarious socially-inept comments for a while.
pat S gave it a1:
It only got a 1 for the sweet last ten minutes. What a waste of time and money. I turned to the person next to me and said mid-way, "These are two precious hours of my life slipping away." Dog poop. Now really, is that funny? How much creativity and wit does it take to come up with that? You know what I most regret? Foreign audiences who will see this and think this is American culture - from indiscreet female bonding rituals where the most intimate details of their sex lives are shared to male-bonding that for most of the movie does not go beyond projectile vomiting and beer. What I cannot believe, most of all, is the high reviews this movie go. Oh, Roger Ebert, you have been such a dependable prognosticator for me. Where were you on this one?