In I Love You, Man, a comedy from John Hamburg (Along Came Polly, co-writer of Meet The Parents, Meet The Fockers, Zoolander), Peter Klaven (Paul Rudd, Knocked Up The 40 Year Old Virgin) is a successful real estate agent who, upon getting engaged to the woman of his dreams, Zooey, (The Offices Rashida Jones), discovers, to his dismay and chagrin, that he has no male friend close enough to serve as his Best Man. Peter immediately sets out to rectify the situation, embarking on a series of bizarre and awkward man-dates, before meeting Sydney Fife (Jason Segel, Forgetting Sarah Marshall), a charming, opinionated man with whom he instantly bonds. But the closer the two men get, the more Peters relationship with Zooey suffers, ultimately forcing him to choose between his fiancée and his new found bro, in a story that comically explores what it truly means to be a friend.

Aww, cute, the notion of bro-mance goes truly mainstream here, instead of being relegated to reality shows and whatnot. Even better, writer-director John Hamburg finally returns to the big screen after going mainstream with Along Came Polly back in 2004. Without knowing the full score, we’ll credit Hamburg’s indie sensibilities with landing Rashida Jones from The Office in the role of Rudd’s fiance and slotting Jamie Pressly as her BFF (and not the other way around). Jason Segel breaks away from Judd Apatow’s clutches for a role that should make him look way less desperate, in a movie that will undoubtedly have better-realized female characters.

Rated R for pervasive language, including crude and sexual references.

Director: John Hamburg
Stars: Paul Rudd, Jason Segel, Rashida Jones
Studio: DreamWorks SKG
Release Date: 20 March 2009 (USA) more
Genre: Comedy | Romance

Wild behavior forces a pair of energy drink reps to enroll in a Big Brother program. Paul Rudd and Seann William Scott star in Role Models as Danny and Wheeler, two salesmen who trash a company truck on an energy drink-fueled bender. Upon their arrest, the court gives them a choice: do hard time or spend 150 hours with a mentorship program.

After one day with the kids, however, jail doesn’t look half bad. Once the center’s ex-con director (Jane Lynch) gives them an ultimatum, Danny and Wheeler are forced to tailor their brand of immature wisdom to their charges, Augie (Christopher Mintz-Plasse) and Ronnie (Bobb’e J. Thompson). And if they can just make it through probation without getting thrown in jail, the world’s worst role models will prove that, sometimes, it takes a village idiot to raise a child.

David Wain (The Ten) isn’t nearly as famous as Judd Apatow, but he got his career started the same way (both guys turned oddball comedy shows into cult hits in the early/mid-90s) before taking tentative steps toward the big screen. And from the sound of this movie’s premise, it appears that Wain is learning the lesson Apatow aced a few years ago: Get less cerebral with your comedy, rotate key players through your projects, and gun for the hard-R rating. I’m curious as to why these Models earned a winter release when they are clearly a summer-movie confection, though it is a savvy and rather funny counter-programming effort by Universal.

Rated R for crude and sexual content, strong language and nudity.