Starring Paul Rudd, Jason Segel, Rashida Jones, Jaime Pressley, Andy Samberg, Jon Favreau, and J.K. Simmons
Directed by John Hamburg
Directed by John Hamburg
Personal Confession: I'm much like Paul Rudd in this film. Not only in the lack of serious guy friends, but in the awkward mannerisms, odd speech patterns, and "uptightness." There's a scene where he leaves a rambling message on a phone that seriously could've been me (I'm certainly known for my rambling messages and was just called out on it within the past week). Much like Rudd's Peter by the film's end, I guess I've changed in the past year (I've actually had multiple people tell me that...for better or worse, I guess) -- "found" a guy friend, perhaps am becoming a little less uptight, but I certainly still am maintaining the awkward mannerisms and speech patterns...so I'll just leave it at that...
Before I get critiqued for being too personal, let's jump into the movie. Rudd is Peter Klaven, a real estate agent who just got engaged to Zooey (Rashida Jones). Peter doesn't really have any guy friends...he's got acquaintances, but nobody that he can call upon to be his best man at his wedding. Realizing that, he starts to seek out a male counterpart and he stumbles upon Sydney Fife (Jason Segal) who has crashed one of his open houses simply for the free food and to pick up aging divorcées. Despite their significantly different personalities, Peter and Sydney inexplicably hit it off and become close friends (once again, oddly familiar to me here). Some conflict arises simply to further the plot, but, in the end, this is an incredibly simple story.
I was actually pretty impressed with how "uncrude" the film was as a whole. Sure, there are some "adult" scenes -- the "masturbation zone" bit made me laugh -- but it's not an incredibly dirty film despite the fact that the ads when it first came out kind of wanted you to think that it was.
Paul Rudd and Jason Segal are both really great here. It's nice to see Rudd in a lead role and he came off as a completely believable guy to me (obviously, I guess...hence the whole first paragraph of this review). Segal (who is great on How I Met Your Mother) was also fun to watch -- sure, he was the "crude" one here, but nothing really seemed over-the-top. His role came off as genuine to me. Rashida Jones isn't given a whole lot to do here, but she was adequate. Quite impressive, actually, was Jamie Pressley -- she makes the most out of a small role as Zooey's friend.
Before I get critiqued for being too personal, let's jump into the movie. Rudd is Peter Klaven, a real estate agent who just got engaged to Zooey (Rashida Jones). Peter doesn't really have any guy friends...he's got acquaintances, but nobody that he can call upon to be his best man at his wedding. Realizing that, he starts to seek out a male counterpart and he stumbles upon Sydney Fife (Jason Segal) who has crashed one of his open houses simply for the free food and to pick up aging divorcées. Despite their significantly different personalities, Peter and Sydney inexplicably hit it off and become close friends (once again, oddly familiar to me here). Some conflict arises simply to further the plot, but, in the end, this is an incredibly simple story.
I was actually pretty impressed with how "uncrude" the film was as a whole. Sure, there are some "adult" scenes -- the "masturbation zone" bit made me laugh -- but it's not an incredibly dirty film despite the fact that the ads when it first came out kind of wanted you to think that it was.
Paul Rudd and Jason Segal are both really great here. It's nice to see Rudd in a lead role and he came off as a completely believable guy to me (obviously, I guess...hence the whole first paragraph of this review). Segal (who is great on How I Met Your Mother) was also fun to watch -- sure, he was the "crude" one here, but nothing really seemed over-the-top. His role came off as genuine to me. Rashida Jones isn't given a whole lot to do here, but she was adequate. Quite impressive, actually, was Jamie Pressley -- she makes the most out of a small role as Zooey's friend.
The film wasn't stellar...there weren't quite enough laughs to give it a really high rating, but the acting certainly raised the bar here. I say give Paul Rudd more leading roles and make Jason Segal a star...
The RyMickey Rating: B-
First of all: What's the relevance of the first paragraph?
ReplyDeleteSecond: I really didn't like Paul Rudd in this but I loved Segal
I like your phone messages Jeff - particularly the ones that go on so long that you get cut off and have to call back to finish them.
ReplyDeleteI know, Jane...They're endearing, right?
ReplyDelete