Peter Klaven (Paul Rudd) is a real estate agent who has decided to marry Zooey (Rashida Jones). Over the years, he has always been more at ease with women than with men. His favorite movie is Chocolat, and he has practically no interest in sports, drinking, or playing cards. When Zooey seems perturbed over the fact that he has no male friends, he realizes that he doesn’t have anybody in his life to be his best man. So Peter begins a concerted campaign to find a buddy.
His first set of "man dates" arranged through the Internet, friends, and family are disastrous. Then at an open house he is holding to showcase a house he is selling owned by Lou Ferrigno, the one-time Hulk, Peter meets Sydney (Jason Segel), a private investor who admits to being there for the food and a chance to meet a rich divorcee. The real estate agent is impressed with his clever reading of the body language of a client and calls him to get together again. Peter and Sydney really bond when they learn that they are both immense fans of the rock group Rush. Soon these two are regularly meeting in Sydney's "man-cove" or walking his dog named Anwar Sadat. An example of Sydney's bohemian ways is that he refuses to pick up his dog's poop and causes a commotion wherever he goes.
I Love You, Man is a very funny "bromatic" comedy that probes the dynamics of male friendship in some fresh ways. The movie, directed by John Hamburg, really cooks thanks to the appealing performances by Paul Rudd and Jason Segel, who are perfectly matched as the uptight and bumbling real estate agent and the raunchy, relaxed, and observant private investor. Rashida Jones is just right as Peter's fiancée, Andy Samberg plays Peter's gay brother, and J. K. Simmons is his father. The subject matter of men trying to establish and keep alive male friendships in adulthood is one that should find a large audience.
