I LOVE YOU, MAN

Take your classic boy gets girl--boy loses girl--boy gets girl back again plot and change it to boy gets BOY, etc., and you have the gist of I Love You, Man.

Paul Rudd gives an Oscar worthy performance as Peter, a mild-mannered real estate guy (he's trying to sell Lou Ferrigno's house) who enjoys hanging out with his fiance and watching chick flicks. He doesn't have any real male friends, and that's probably why. It wouldn't be a problem except he needs a best man for his wedding, and that sends him on a buddy search (man dates, no less).

Peter wants desperately to be just one of the guys, but he may have gotten shorted on his allotment of testosterone and can't seem to master the intricacies of male bonding. Enter Sidney, (Jason Segel) Peter's serendipitous new best friend and male "role model." Sidney is a devil-may-care type who pumps Peter for details about his sex life with wife to be Zoey (the hot Rashida Jones) and allows his dog named "Anwar Sadat" to relieve himself on the sidewalk, beach, or wherever without bothering to clean it up. People step in it (sometimes barefoot) and let loose with barrages of profanity (potty talk, we might say) and sometimes threatening behavior towards Sidney. It's an ongoing gag, and the funniest thing in the movie because the blue streaks are always creative and Sidney's counter behavior is unpredictably bizarre.

But Peter's tragicomic lameness is at the heart of this film--does he have it in him to be a "regular" booze swilling, chick ogling, trash talking guy--or is he trying to be something he's not? You can talk the talk, but that doesn't mean you can win your fantasy football league!

The plot, for the most part, is predictable--as is the ending. But I Love You, Man isn't about keeping us in suspense--it's about making us laugh...AND, along the way, ponder the meaning of what it is to be a "real" man. Speaking of which, Lou Ferrigno (the Incredible BULK) plays himself. That's typecasting.

GRADE: B


TIMMY'S TIDBITS: Paul Rudd's original family name is "Rudnitzky." Before he got into acting, Rudd worked as a DJ for Bar Mitzvahs. (Haven't we ALL done that at one time or another?)

Jason Segel plays piano and is also a talented basketball player. Segel went to high school with Jake Gyllenhaal.