Review: I Love You Man

It had been a long time since I'd been to a movie theatre, but I heard some good reviews of I Love You Man and Steve had been waiting for it to come out for a long time, so we figured it was a good option for tonight.  A self-proclaimed "bromance", the movie tells of a romantically savvy yet socially hopeless man (Paul Rudd) who realizes shortly before his wedding that there is no one in his life whom he can ask to be his best man.  I Love You Man takes the "bros before hos" philosophy made popular in Judd Apatow's films to the next level, yielding an effective parody of the traditional romantic comedy:  like the hero of a romance searches for love, Peter (Rudd's character) must search for a friend.  After several awkward attempts at friendship, he finds Sidney (Jason Segal).  The two hit it off, and appropriately twisted versions of the usual romantic comedy plot hiccups play out in a predictable manner. 

On a serious note, I appreciate the public acknowledgement of the idea that sometimes it's a whole lot easier to maintain a romantic relationship than it is to be comfortable with platonic companions.  It's not really a "cool" trait possess, yet I often suspect there are a lot people who feel certain degrees of social anxiety they're not likely to admit to, even to themselves.

There is very little about this movie that is serious, however.  The absolute funniest thing about it, in my opinion, is the ongoing Rush theme.  I spent most of my life changing the radio station as quickly as possible whenever Rush came on, yet lately have come to realize how fabulous their music really is.  Seriously.  Listen to Geddy Lee's voice and the lyrics it somehow manages to screech out; really listen for a minute or two and tell me it's not the funniest sound you've ever heard in your life.  The movie does an awesome job of mocking it in a tasteful (but not TOO tasteful) way.  I was literally on the floor laughing.