I Love You, Man (2009)

The appearance of Paul Rudd and Jason Segel on the poster should tell you that I Love You, Man is not your typical gross-out, buddy movie. It's so much better.

These men are the thinking person's comedians presenting us with the multi-dimensional characters of Peter Klaven (Rudd) and Sydney Fife (Segel). Peter's a real estate agent whose just proposed to his girlfriend (Rashida Jones). Her friends have noticed that Peter doesn't seem to have any guy friends of his own and everyone's wondering who his best man will be. He realizes he doesn't know how to go out and make guy friends. He doesn't play poker. He doesn't go out drinking. He doesn't do any of the typical things guys do with their buddies.

Luckily for him, he hosts an open house at Lou Ferrigno's house and Sydney is in attendance (to pick up women and score free food). It's here where they first begin to bond. Of course the two men are opposites in many ways. Sydney is a laid back, confident, philosopher-type while Peter is an uptight, timid, by-the-rules man.

Peter somehow gets the courage to call up Sydney to hang out and the friendship that grows out of that comes off as genuine while still being highly entertaining. The guys share a love of Rush and enjoy hanging out in Sydney's "Man Cave". Peter finally has someone he can talk to about anything and Sydney has someone to hang out with when all his other friends have to go home to their wives and kids.

Both Rudd and Segel play off each other with ease. It's nice to see two actors better known for their supporting roles (with the exception of Segel's recent Forgetting Sarah Marshall) shine as leads. Writer/Director John Hamburg has given them some fun material to work with, although there was definitely a fair share of improvisation as well.

Andy Samberg and J. K. Simmons in supporting roles as Peter's brother and father respectively steal the screen in their moments with their simple, seriousness. In fact there's a full cast of comedians doing a nice job of not stepping on each others' toes while taking their characters very seriously. This I Love You, Man team leaves us with something that is funny, yet relatable all the while feeling surprisingly fresh.

Rating: 4/5
Recommended for: Adults who want a feel-good movie that also makes you laugh. Also Rush fans.

Extended Review: After watching the metric ton worth of extras on the DVD, it's easy to see that a) these people had a blast making this movie and b) Hamburg and the editing team had a lot of decisions to make for the final cut of this film. Often when watching deleted or extended versions of scenes, the reasons they were cut are quite apparent. For I Love You, Man, the best reasons seem to be just that they went with an alternate version of the line or it'd make the film 4 hours long to keep it in there. So much of what didn't make it into the film was just as funny as some of the stuff that did make it. You don't see that very often.

Watchmen (2009)

This movie is an experience... a nearly three hour experience, but an experience none the less. Normally the time would be an issue, but this movie had so much to tell. I could only think of one scene I'd trim down and zero that I'd cut out.

Watchmen tells of an alternate 1980's United States where Nixon is still president and the Cold War is still looming. The US was once protected by the Minutemen, a group of masked vigilantes with no real super powers but a desire to fight bad guys. The problem was that the line between good and bad was very squiggly. As that group grew older, a new group called the Crimebusters formed and took up the fight. Eventually the public grew wary of these costumed not-so-super-heroes and Congress passed an act that forced them all into retirement. Now one of the former heroes has turned up dead and Rorschach - a vigilante who never really stopped vigilante-ing - is suspicious and calls on the rest of the Crimebusters/Watchmen to figure out what is happening.

Watchmen was passed around for several years. Many directors were once attached to the project with their many cast wish lists, but when it finally came to fruition, it paid off. The film is intense, the story is intriguing and the majority of cast is fantastic. Jackie Earle Haley and Patrick Wilson are the casting department's winning entries, giving fully-committed performances - not your standard super hero movie fare. Wilson even commented at a premiere that it's nice they didn't have to cut corners for the sake of the genre.

There's action. There's suspense (especially if you haven't read the graphic novel it's based on). But if you're looking for mindless entertainment, you'll be disappointed. Morality issues and gray areas abound. The characters are flawed and complex with differing approaches to their situation. And there's enough of them you'll be bound to find one you sympathize with more than the others. The major elements of the ending are different than the graphic novel, but they add to the complexity and are more believable. Overall, it's the intellectual's badass thrill ride.

Rating: 4/5
Recommended for: Adults who don't mind a little brain work with their action