Today! Because I’m slappa da bass, mon!
I Love You, Man (2009)
Directed by John Hamburg
Starring Paul Rudd, Jason Segel, Rashida Jones, Jaime Pressly, Jane Curtin, J.K. Simmons, Jon Favreau, Andy Samberg, Rob Huebel, Aziz Ansari, Nick Kroll, Jay Chandrasekhar, Joe Lo Truglio, Thomas Lennon, Ping Wu, Matt Walsh, Lou Ferrigno, Melissa Rauch, David Wain
There was a stretch in the late ’00s that I in my infinite Epinions hubris referred to as The Golden Age of Comedy (Epinions.com, gone but not forgotten!). And while in retrospect this may be overselling the half dozen bro-centric chucklefests that were released between ’07 and ’10, some are proving to give the test of time a go. Thus, the eminently quotable I Love You, Man, featuring just a ton of TV comedians supporting the ageless Paul Rudd in his search to find a male friend as an adult. The random smattering of glorified cameos include cast members of SNL (Curtin, Samberg), The State (Lo Truglio, Lennon, Wain), Human Giant (Huebel, Ansari), Broken Lizard (Chandrasekhar), and UCB (Walsh, Kroll), and I’m certainly overlooking some folks who belong in those groups. Rudd and Segel make a terrific combo, finally sharing a lot of screen time in the third of five films they appeared in from ’07 to ’13 (and the only one on this list). Also, Lou Ferrigno! And Rush! The holy trinity!
I also think it’s kind of odd how quickly this era ended, given that it encompassed a lot of different actors (almost exclusively guys) and directors, continually repackaged in new combinations, and then just stopped. Segel wrapped up How I Met Your Mother in 2014 and more or less disappeared from comedies. Paul Rudd is off doing superhero movies. James Franco has got a slate of scandals to go along with his indie directing and David Simon TV gig The Deuce. Seth Rogen still pops up in comedies – your Sausage Party and Neighbors a few years back, and now he’s literally playing Walter Cronkite in an upcoming film?? Jonah Hill has been nominated for two Oscars. Everyone grew up! Maybe it was a case of knowing how long juvenile yuks would be believable from men approaching middle age. Or maybe they just wanted This is the End to really be the end. Either way, it was sorta of Silver Age of Comedy at least, right?
Best Air Bass isn’t something that gets handed out too often, but I Love You, Man put it on the map as an art form. Also, I distinctly remember this movie was the first time I heard about the concept of fish tacos, not being a huge foodie or imaginative cook myself, and given my subsequent dining habits, I have to give it a nod for Best Menu Recommendation. Thanks!
We may soon halt with the Two-Timers spotlight, as I think we induct our first Three-Timer tomorrow, but today we do add three more to the roll call of repeat actors – #388 The Wolf of Wall Street‘s Jon Favreau, #387 Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs’ Andy Samberg, and Academy Award winning #381 Spider-Man co-star J.K. Simmons! Thirteen in total!
Apparently they don’t all share one scene in I Love You, Man!
Coming tomorrow! This rates about a 9.0 on my weird shit-0-meter –
Knowingly Undersold 
I’d also give this Least Accurate Gender Representation at a Rush Concert, as there were too many women in that scene. And I’ve been one of 3 or 4 female humans in attendance at a Rush concert.
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