I Love You, Man 2009

Ben Mankiewicz, At the Movies: Rudd and Segel excel with a smart script and Rashida Jones is very funny and authentic. Read more

Michael Phillips, Chicago Tribune: The movie is The Odd Couple with a looser vibe and more oral sex references. Read more

Ann Hornaday, Washington Post: It's a thin premise, and I Love You, Man features the usual quota of jokes involving masturbation, projectile vomiting and flatulence. But is it worth it? Thanks to Rudd and Segel (and some terrific cameos), totes magotes. Read more

David Edelstein, New York Magazine/Vulture: I Love You, Man is totally formulaic, but the formula is unnervingly (and hilariously) inside out. Read more

J. R. Jones, Chicago Reader: Its wit and ingenuous characters prove how far the bar's been raised. Read more

Tom Keogh, Seattle Times: Smarter than it looks from its ubiquitous trailer, but not smart enough to be a fully satisfying adult comedy. Read more

Scott Tobias, AV Club: 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 more

Bill Goodykoontz, Arizona Republic: It's just a well-made, ribald comedy by people who are really good at this kind of thing. Read more

Ty Burr, Boston Globe: It's a bromance that's out and proud. In the liberation are the laughs, and they stick to your ribs longer than you'd think. Read more

Betsy Sharkey, Los Angeles Times: I Love You, Man could have been so much more than the series of missed opportunities -- not to mention the predictable humor -- it turned out to be. Read more

Amy Biancolli, Houston Chronicle: In almost every major detail and minor plot hiccup, the sweet, vulgar, hilariously awkward I Love You, Man follows Ye Olde Formulae for standard romantic comedies. Read more

Peter Rainer, Christian Science Monitor: I Love You, Man is the second movie this year -- He's Just Not That Into You being the first -- with a popular catchphrase for its title. This is one of the film's few distinctions. Read more

Lisa Kennedy, Denver Post: As sweet as it is tart. Read more

Adam Graham, Detroit News: I Love You, Man is a success; it's Fight Club with hugs, not fists. Read more

Owen Gleiberman, Entertainment Weekly: Paul Rudd gives a startlingly funny and original performance as a nice guy with serious dweebish tendencies, and the delight of what Rudd does here comes down to how exquisitely embarrassing he is to watch. Read more

Christopher Kelly, Dallas Morning News: I Love You, Man feels like a clever concept in search of a completely developed movie. Read more

Rene Rodriguez, Miami Herald: The resulting quest is hilarious and socially astute, because co-writer/director John Hamburg keeps the story grounded in a Judd Apatow-ish reality that never edges into the surreal. Read more

John Anderson, Newsday: Even though I Love You, Man supplies plenty of cringes, it also has overtones of warmth and undertones of real humor, and two stars -- Paul Rudd and Jason Segel -- who do what they do with aplomb. Read more

Stephen Whitty, Newark Star-Ledger: Luckily, the cast is so winning, that the occasional sexism can be ignored, and the off-the-wall pop culture name-checks (Lou Ferrigno, as a guest star?) enjoyed. Read more

Elizabeth Weitzman, New York Daily News: Writer/director John Hamburg smartly tweaks Hollywood formulas while following them to the letter, and it's the way everybody plays things perfectly straight (so to speak) that makes ILYM so much fun. Read more

Kyle Smith, New York Post: I Love You, Man, which is like listening to a 105-minute conversation be tween Ross and Joey on Friends, looks like it might be a Judd Apatow movie in the same way Brett Favre, in a Jets uniform, looked like he might still know how to play quarterback. Read more

Roger Moore, Orlando Sentinel: Unlike Apatow opuses, Hamburg knows not to overstay his welcome. I Love You, Man is a the biff-bam/thank-you-man of "boys need boyfriends" comedies. Read more

Carrie Rickey, Philadelphia Inquirer: Among those buddy films lately called 'bromances,' ILYM is both the best friend and best man. Read more

James Berardinelli, ReelViews: Despite the clever premise and several laugh-aloud moments, the film as a whole underwhelms. Read more

Roger Ebert, Chicago Sun-Times: 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 more

Peter Travers, Rolling Stone: In a down market for giggles (Miss March? Please!), Paul Rudd and Jason Segel are howlingly funny. They have skills. Read more

Stephanie Zacharek, Salon.com: The marvelous thing about John Hamburg's new comedy, I Love You, Man, is that rather than conforming to fit into some preexisting trend, it recognizes and even exalts in the reality that close male friendships can be a source of confusion and awkwardness. Read more

Peter Hartlaub, San Francisco Chronicle: It's a hilarious comedy made even more successful because so much of the satire seems fresh. Read more

Dana Stevens, Slate: Though the script doesn't always rise to their level, I Love You, Man is more than worth seeing for the chemistry between the shambling Segel and the endlessly inventive Rudd. Read more

Colin Covert, Minneapolis Star Tribune: It never settles into a comfortable comic groove, but maybe discomfort is the point. Read more

Joe Williams, St. Louis Post-Dispatch: The key to the success of I Love You, Man is that both actors deliver recognizably human performances within the formulaic structure. Read more

Liam Lacey, Globe and Mail: The comedy I Love You, Man marks the overdue emergence of Paul Rudd as a star. Read more

Peter Howell, Toronto Star: It's a one-joke pony, but director John Hamburg and his screenwriters manage to stretch it to nearly two hours of hilarity and quasi-profundity. Read more

Richard Corliss, TIME Magazine: The picture is worth catching for the delicate and toxic nuances of Rudd's performance. Read more

Tom Huddlestone, Time Out: The concept is solid, applying rusty romcom cliches to a tale of new-found masculine buddydom. But the plot is scatty. Read more

Claudia Puig, USA Today: I Love You, Man's light-hearted exploration of male bonding provides substantial fodder for humor, heightened by the inspired casting of two of the industry's most appealing comic actors. Read more

Todd McCarthy, Variety: Pic never surmounts a deeply lame central premise that makes most of the action seem fraudulent and thoroughly unnecessary. Read more

Robert Wilonsky, Village Voice: Just as we thought the "bromantic comedy" had overstayed its welcome, the genre reaches its highest point with I Love You, Man. Read more