Paul and Jason at a Rush concert

A few thousand posts ago, I mentioned winning some tickets to the premiere of “I Love You, Man”. Well that premiere came and went and your loyal hero totally missed the ball on hyping you up to see this soon to be Apatowian classic. I won’t bore you with amazing details, in just 3 short sentences I’ll catch you up on that fateful night.

I stood in line with friends and waited to get tickets. I ran to press line in the hopes of meeting my beloved Seth Rogen, who was not in attendance. I tried to get Jason Segel’s autograph but was soon swallowed by the crowd, I propelled myself in his direction and got a much closer look. He is a younger, taller  Judge Reinhold and that’s a compliment because Judge Reinhold is the cat’s pajamas in Danger’s opinion. After that pursuit, I focused my attention on the arrival of  Paul Rudd who was NOT  6 feet tall, to my dismay, but he was nice to look at. I resumed my place in line and was escorted inside the glorious Mann Village theater. As I was waiting for a friend to use the bathroom, I came across Weird Al Yankovic, the man, the legend. He was noshing on popcorn, I interrupted to shower him with praise and I got to take a picture with him. The highlight of my night, since I couldn’t commandeer Seth Rogen, Yankovic would have to do.

Rudd and Segel rock out to "Tom Sawyer"

We got to our seats and star gazed until one of my friends went out to buy us some soda pop, and came back saying that concession was free. Highlight # 2.  Being rich and famous means you don’t spend money, and that is so backwards I won’t go into it.

Then the lights dimmed. The screenwriter/director gets up for the movie’s introduction and we are thrust right into the bromance of the year until July 31st when “Funny People” arrives in theaters. The movie has a nice Californian pace and the laughs are aplenty. Paul Rudd plays “Peter Klaven” a man in love with the idea of being in love, devoting so much time to the lady in his life that he forgets to have friends of his own. He proposes to his girlfriend played by Rashida Jones and shortly after realizes he hasn’t any friends, so who will be his best man?

I Love You, Man

A  full on  man hunt is under way. After striking out a few times, he holds Klaven, a real estate agent, holds  an open house for Lou Ferrigno’s estate, where he  meets Sydney Fife (Jason Segel) and they immediately hit it off. The bromance begins, brimming with Vespas, Ugg boots and jackoff stations. Stuttery, awkward yet  perfectly executed, Rudd breathes life into a man we don’t often come across in the movies. A guy without friends.

He courts Fife, stammering and hopelful, finding common ground and opening up to this stranger in hopes of landing a best man for his nuptials. Fife is just as smitten but can hide it way better. Segel takes his character on as a guy who is brutally honest, caring, masculine, and without inhibition. The dynamic duo however is not the only reason to watch this movie twice. Joe Lo Truglio is great as the voice cracker, Lennon is razor sharp as the guy whom Peter smites in the beginning of the movie and tensely hilarious Jaime Pressly and Jon Favreau are the couple who hate/love each other. Andy Samberg doesn’t get nearly enough time to flex his comedy muscles as Klaven’s gay younger brother but take what you can get. Rest assured, the DVD will be chocked full of unrated glorious tidbits and deleted scenes for your home viewing pleasure. But do not wait for the DVD, watch this movie in the theater now, it will work for a dude’s night out or a romantic date.

Rudd and Segel make for an amazing comedic coupling, fresh and charismatic, which is why this movie should have took the top slot at the box office. A light comedy featuring great music and a slew of cameos, should have pounced the twice yearly Nic Cage suspense/thriller. Show the studios that it doesn’t take a disaster movie to get people into a theater. A little late now but there’s always “Funny People” in July.It’s time to let the funny guy win for a change.