Finding Your Inner Pig
Written: Mar 30 '09 (Updated Mar 30 '09)
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Product Rating:
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| Bang For The Buck |
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Pros: funny, provocative, well-played
Cons: tied to a wafer-thin plot that feels too TV-esque
The Bottom Line: Funny stuff. Go in just for the laughs. The plot is so thin, it'll disappoint if you go in expecting more.
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| bilavideo's Full Review: I Love You, Man |
There are so many ways to talk about this film, though in the end, the discussion it raises is probably more interesting than the film itself. Directed by John Hamburg (who wrote Zoolander, Along Came Polly, Meet the Parents and Meet the Fockers) from a script cowritten by Hamburg and TV writer, Larry Levin ("It's Garry Shandling's Show," "Seinfeld," Doctor Doolittle 1 & 2), I Love You, Man is a Judd Apatow film without Judd Apatow. The famed writer-director's success has spawned an industry of me-too product, aimed at slackers in their thirties who like their tepid comedy spiced with enough verbal raunch to give their material an "R" rating. Mind you, I'm not a prude. Give me something funny - clean or dirty - and I'll laugh with the best of 'em. But strategically tossing in some F-bombs to push a sitcom into an "R" rating seems like a waste. If nothing else, it's an act of insecurity, cutting off one audience (teens, parents and grandmas) in an effort to reach another (the college set). In films like The 40 Year Old Virgin and Knocked Up (not to mention So Bad), the topic more or less demands the R. But when you get something this TV-esque, one wonders how an R is really an upgrade.
Peter Klaven (Paul Rudd) is a nice-guy into real estate and his girlfriend, Zooey (Rashida Jones). He's the nice guy feminists used to say they wanted men to be (professional, sharp, a guy who picks up his socks and tends to his mate) - but there's a catch. After he pops the question, he overhears a conversation between Zooey and her catty friends, all of whom think there's something wrong with him. Why? Because he beats her? Because he scratches himself in public? Because he's got his eyes on half the girls in the room, and his hand up the other's half's skirts? Not quite. Everybody's eyebrows are raised because Peter doesn't have any guy friends. It turns out, after half a century of whining about how men need to be more sensitive to women, what women really want - after all - is a guy who isn't afraid to be a guy.
Worried that he's about to start his married life under a dark cloud, Peter sets out to find a best friend. Having domesticated himself so well the women now suspect he's a eunuch, Peter is out for a little male bonding. And because he's everything women have been saying they want, he's like a poodle dropped into the forest, trying to find his inner wolf. I won't get into the fine details of Peter's search for "the perfect guy." Suffice to say that Peter finds his Huckleberry in Sydney Fife (Jason Segel), a guy who isn't afraid to be a guy. Sydney's "manhood" isn't based on testosterone, sweat, a shaved head or bench-pressing. It's based on a stallion's independence, a kind of male-pattern narcissism that causes some women to cry, "All men are pigs." Sydney dresses well but beneath the veneer is the heart of a hound dog. What does this guy want out of life? What does every man want? Sex, drugs, diversion, leisure. What's more important is what he doesn't want? While he doesn't go out of his way to repulse the opposite sex, Sydney's innermost desire is not to please women. It's to please himself, which is probably why his "man cave" includes a comfortable chair, a big-screen TV, surround sound and a bottle of lotion on an end table within easy reach of the chair.
After internalizing endless PSAs about how men should see things from a woman's point of view, Peter needs to spend quality time with Sydney, if only to come back to what he was in the wild.
If the premise seems familiar, maybe that's because gender identity has become an issue for a generation whose "deadbeat dads" left few instructions for boys raised by women. With so many defective role models, today's man has to stop and think about what it means to be a man. They can't assume the instructions handed down are of much value, nor can they assume that women (who have their own politics in every relationship) are to be trusted for clues. After eight years of Bush - and all the swaggering, chest-pumping madness of the testosterone fetish - men are asking themselves what it means to be a guy. At least Peter is.
The best parts of this film are the Sydney moments. Jason Segel's performance is spot-on, even reminiscent of a young Marlon Brando. There's a certain gratification in watching Sydney laugh at political correctness, as well as his own hypocrisy in pretending to give women what they want. When Peter first meets him, Sydney appears to be a potential buyer of the "Farigno estate," (one of the film's subplots is Peter's attempt to sell Lou Farigno's bachelor pad). In fact, Sydney is there for the free food and to pick up any stray women who might be seduced by his charms. When he compliments Peter on his choice of freebie food, it tells us something about both men. Peter is a pleaser; Sydney is a user. But in wearing each label, each guy is a little bit more (and perhaps a little bit less) than what is implied by the label. Peter tries hard to please, but deep down, he's really trying to get what he wants. Sydney, on the other hand, is a bit of a rogue; but beneath that rogue is a lone wolf who wants to belong.
Unfortunately, it's a conversation stuck to a plot so paper thin as to tell us where it's going, almost from the first reel. I won't go into the predictions you could make, just sitting here, not just because it would give too much away. I won't do it because the film's success depends on your not doing it. There are, of course, some surprises along the way, not the least of which was watching Jon Favreau play Barry, the boyfriend of one of Zooey's catty girlfriends. He and she are well-matched, with Barry spouting the kind of drivel you'd expect from a "pig" and his girlfriend continually calling him an "a%%hole." And yet, for all the complaints, there's an undeniable sexual tension between them, the kind that probably turns makeup sex into something glorious. For me, the best part of this was in realizing that Jon Favreau was simply doing a "Vince Vaughn." Everything his character says would have made sense coming out of the mouth of Favreau's old partner; but it's hilarious hearing it come from Favreau.
This comedy didn't suck. It was funny. It was enjoyable. Was it memorable? Not in the slightest. In fact, you'll probably forget this film on your way to the car. That, by itself, may be a disappointment. But if you go to funny films to catch a belly laugh, this film won't disappoint. It's not great but it's good, and as far as good goes, it's good enough.
Recommended:
Yes
Movie Mood: Funny Movie
Viewing Method: Sneak Preview at My Local Theater
Film Completeness: Looked complete to me.
Worst Part of this Film: Plot
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Epinions.com ID:
bilavideo
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Member: Bill Kilpatrick
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