Hot Movie Pick for this Weekend!

MAN BOOBS

There’s a lot for guys to like about the bromantic comedy I Love You, Man. The best jokes revolve around farting, projectile vomit, a pooping dog, banana hammocks and the ultimate symbol of masculinity -- Lou Ferrigno. And, of course, the title is taken from a classic Bud Light commercial. But unlike the beer ad, which won a CLIO award way back in 1995, there’s not much new here. I Love You, Man is really just another copy-cat sprung from the Judd Apatow school of filmmaking -- let’s call them Dick Flicks -- which promote male bonding and at least one character’s refusal to mature/commit/shave.

Paul Rudd (Knocked Up) plays Peter Klaven, an uptight metrosexual real estate agent in LA who proposes to Zooey (The Office’s Rashida Jones), only to realize he doesn’t have a male BFF to be his best man at the wedding. So, with the help of his mom (Jane Curtin) and more macho gay brother (Andy Samburg), he’s set up on a bunch of awkward man-dates. Peter ends up connecting with his polar opposite -- the bohemian schlub Sydney Fife (Jason Segel), who obviously dresses in the dark, yet frequently bangs hot chicks in his filthy beach bungalow. But as Sydney helps his new pal tap into his testosterone, mostly through jam sessions in his garage (aka “the man cave”), Peter’s relationship with Zooey suffers. Many guys will identify with the struggle between obnoxious best friend vs. girlfriend or wife. They’ll also enjoy ogling Jones and Jaime Pressly, who plays her best friend. The ladies will identify with… well, not much, unless they’re into ball grabbing and the band Rush. And let’s face it. Paul Rudd and Jason Segel are funny but they’re not exactly eye candy.

Despite a thin plot, one-dimensional female characters and a cliche message about friendship, I Love You, Man has enough gross-out gags and LOL moments to help keep the Dick Flick genre swinging for the foreseeable future. If I had to rate it, I’d give it 2 1/2 Radars.