’I Love You, Man’ is a brainy bromance. Go figure!

Full disclosure: I love silly comedies and make no apologies for my viewing preferences. That being said, I found this particular comedy about a hapless guy in search of male friends, expertly played by underrated Paul Rudd (finally getting the recognition and leading roles he deserves) and the ensuing “bromance” that develops hilarious and touching at the same time.

Sure, it’s a silly comedy and it’s riddled with more fart jokes and cringe-inducing moments to satisfy the 13-year-old boy hiding in all of us (women included), but you just can’t help but enjoy the adventures of sensitive, clumsy and seriously lacking-in-cool Peter Klaven as he struggles through one man date after another hoping to make a love match. Jason Segel’s Sydney Fife is the exact opposite of Peter’s buttoned-up, conservative, modern day male who has carefully tucked away all aggression and doesn’t even know how to engage in the obligatory (and often crude) modes of male bonding.

Sydney doesn’t care about fitting in. He’s a sloppy, slob of a man and he knows it. He spends as much time as he can in his “man cave”, playing his electric guitar, watching TV and… unapologetically masturbating. When he’s out, he’s usually walking his dog, oblivious or indifferent to the social cues around him. “Society tells us we're civilized but the truth is we are animals,” he tells Peter, as he urges him to let out a primal scream. “Sometimes we just have to let it out.” When Peter lets out a lame scream, Sydney promptly replies: “Good. Now gently remove your tampon and try again.”

Peter’s attempts at being cool (the “me slappa da bass” routine repeated over and over in an attempted “reggae” accent had me howling) are downright embarrassing, but you can’t help but like Peter because he’s real, sincere and so eager to fit in and be one of the boys. It’s a testament to Rudd’s acting chops that you like him so much.

As a woman living in Montreal, the Land of the Metrosexual, I found it refreshing (and dare I say, almost sexy?) watching someone like Sydney live his life with no real regard for societal restrictions. Here’s a guy that I just know would take less time to get ready for a Saturday night than I would. Now, that’s hot! On the downside, the guy refuses to pick up after his dog.

SNL regular Andy Samberg provides additional comic relief as Peter’s gay brother and the uber-talented Jon Favreau and Jaime Pressly play a dysfunctional couple that steals every scene they’re in, as they mirror the daily bickering and compromises that most married couples engage in. Like I said, it ain’t always pretty, but it’s funny.

At the end of the day, what makes this movie work is that, despite all the scatological jokes and the silly puke humour, it’s a story that we can all relate to. Irrelevant of who we are, we all want to connect to someone and have someone ‘get’ our jokes and our way of seeing the world. We all want a best friend, a “best man”, a best bud; someone we can go to for advice, nickname Jobin on the fly or just jam to songs by Rush with. Relationships don’t always have to make sense; they just have to work.