For the first, say, thirty minutes, the awkwardness could be acceptable. As an exposition on Rudd’s character Peter Klavin, the awkwardness could even be understandable. Klavin is a seriously awkward guy, not because he’s feminine but because he seems to have far too many boundaries for one person to handle.
After thirty minutes, as the insufferable pacing of this movie wears on and on, the awkwardness is no longer forgivable. One wants a moment of genuine affection, or chemistry, any clue that would suggest that these characters actually know one another and enjoy each other’s company. There are two main culprits here.
Jason Segel Is an Awkward Actor
How this man got to be a face of Hollywood is completely mystifying, for all of his performances are hollow, amateurish, and one starts to wonder if even Segel himself believes his performance. He appears distracted, or apathetic, like the entire time he’s on screen he’s thinking about lunch time.
Segel was last seen in Forgetting Sarah Marshall, which was also a poorly constructed movie relying on old, unfunny jokes. His performance was just as halfhearted in that movie, but not quite as vague. At least in Marshall, he seemed to have a clear sense of who his character was, even if it didn’t help the overall feel of the movie much.
In I Love You, Man, Segel plays the best-man-to-be, Sidney Fife. Peter and Sidney meet at an open house, which Sidney openly admits he is crashing, and they exchange some mildly funny banter about the guests. This is one of the few laughable moments in the movie, and the only one where Sidney appears remotely well-defined as a character. It is all downhill from there. Alternately, one of the worst moments is when Sidney and Peter “break up.” Rudd plays a believable, macho broken hearted vibe here, while Segel merely shrugs a lot and looks bored.
Secondly, and just as important to this disaster, there is the completely boring couple who make up the other half of the movie.
Paul Rudd and Rashida Jones Have Almost Zero Chemistry
It is strange, to say the least, to see these two talented comedic actors on screen with so little connection. Both of them deliver decent performances apart, but their romance is dead and fairly unbelievable. At one point, Sidney creates a huge conflict by asking Peter, who then asks Zooey (Jones) why he is marrying her. Peter never answers this, and one might assume it’s because no good reason could easily be found.
Rudd was last seen in the hilarious Role Models, which he also co-wrote. He has shelled out routinely solid performances these past couple years, in everything from I Could Never Be Your Woman with Michelle Pfieffer to Knocked Up with Seth Rogen. He has proven his serious chops over and over but here, when stuck with mediocre writing, he appears to be trying a little too hard. Some of his naiveté seems forced, and even Paul Rudd cannot make a scene with Segel seem real.
Rashida Jones appears here in her first lead movie role. Sadly, her character is hardly developed at all, and she is mainly there to fill in a few sexual punch lines and to provide the obligatory conflict at the end of every romantic comedy when the girl walks out. Perhaps this is the reason for her somewhat blank performance. Fans of the Office will remember her as Karen, the somewhat put upon (pre-Pam) girlfriend of Jim Halpert.
Most of the moments that make this movie even mildly amusing are in the trailer, and even die hard Rudd fans are likely to be disappointed.
