"I Love You, Man" Review

I saw I Love You, Man last night and must say it was a pleasant walk in the park. The movie started kind of slow until Jason Segal's character makes a classic toast at Paul Rudd's engagement party. After that, the movies picks up a bit, and all-in-all, was pretty good and funny the whole way through. There are funny moments, but other than the toast, no lines I am going to be quoting from years down the road. There is good chemistry between the actors, but several funny actors are under used, such as Andy Samburg, far and away the best member of SNL currently, and Jane Curtin.

Ultimately, definitely worth viewing as a rental or matinee. Just do not expect Role Models funny.

Movie Reviews

The past two weeks I have seen three movies: Mr. Woodcock, The Happening and Role Models. Here are my thoughts:

1. Mr. Woodcock - This movie has a great premise: Son comes home to find that his mom is dating his torturous junior high school teacher. There should be tons of laughs, but there really isn't besides the flashbacks of Billy Bob Thorton's character kicking the asses of Seann William Scott's character and other kids. It just wasn't funny and disappointing because it could have been hilarious. My recommendation is to avoid.

2. The Happening - M. Night Shymalan's newest flick, which is R-rated for violence, deals with an epidemic that causes people to kill themselves. I will spoil this movie because it sucked. It turns out that the plants and trees are releasing a pollen causing people to self-destruct. Whenever the wind blows, you know someone is going to kill...his or herself. Somehow though, it doesn't effect Mark Wahlberg and company and the explanation makes no sense ("if we are in small groups, we won't be effected"). In the end, the plants just stop killing people and movie over. To top it off, the acting is horrible. I like Mark Wahlberg, but this is the worst acting I have seen from him by far. My recommendation is: this is a Clint Baer approved movie...yes, that bad.

3. Role Models - Finally, a great movie. If you have seen a preview, you know the storyline. Two idiots get in trouble with the law and have to do community service. Seann William Scott redeems himself from Mr. Woodcock and plays a slightly smarter Stifler. Paul Rudd, Independence, MO, native, plays a guy who is stuck in a mid-life crisis and whose frustration leads both characters in front of a judge. The kids (McLovin' and a 9 year old black boy) are hilarious and everything just clicks in this movie. People who know me that one of my complaints about the Judd Apatow movies (Anchorman, Superbad, Knocked Up, Forgetting Sarah Marshall) is that the movies start out funny and about 2/3 through turn serious and there are few to no laughs in the last 1/3. Role Models, like Step Brothers, does not have that problem. Even when Role Model comes to the usual "serious" moment, director David Wain (The State, Stella), manages to put in enough laughs to avoid the quicksand traps. My recommendation: fan "freakin" tastic. Go watch and laugh...and there is good nudity, which should keep the Baer brothers attention.

Update, Sunday at 9:17 p.m.:  I forgot to mention a movie preview before Role Models.  "The Unborn" looks like a freakin' scary movie, a lot more so than The Happening.  I was impressed, intrigued and scared.

Update, Monday at 5:47 p.m: Role Models gets the Official Justin R. Meyer Seal of Approval.

Step-Brothers

Yesterday, I went to see Step-Brothers. It was fan-freakin-tastic! It is best Will Ferrell movie since Anchorman. It is funny from the beginning to end (unlike popular Knocked Up and most other Judd Apatow movies where they are funny, slow and serious, then end). John C. Reilly kept up with Ferrell the whole way through and was arguably funnier than Ferrell.

I don't want to give anything away, so this will be short. If you haven't seen it already, I highly recommend it.