In the age of instantaneous global communication, new words can leap into the public lexicon at an alarming rate.
When it comes to pop culture, words and phrases come and go before those of us who are a few steps back from the cutting edge have even realized they had come (and then gone).
The word du jour in movie parlance - and I don't know who coined it - is "bromance," and its derivative, "bromantic." It's impossible to read a review of John Hamburg's new film "I Love You, Man" without seeing that sassy and clever invented word in the text. And it's usually in the headline.
"Bromance" is the way pundits are describing what at one time would have been called "male bonding" and usually involves lovable, if flawed, characters. The best of this new genre is "Superbad," and auteur Judd Apatow has built a career honing the formula to popular and critical acclaim.
It's surprising that the latest - and one of the most subtly executed - films in this vein, "I Love You, Man," is presented without Apatow's name attached. But he's left his mark, and Hamburg has borrowed much from the master including casting two exceedingly affable leading men, Paul Rudd and Jason Segel.
Both bros are familiar with the territory and combine to great effect here. Their combined talent elevates what might have been a likable formula film into a piece of work that works rather well.
Rudd plays Peter, a young man who has recently become engaged to his (really cool) girlfriend, Zooey. Rashida Jones holds her own as the leading lady in a decidedly male movie and breaks type for her character, who could have easily become a tired cliché.
Zooey is not only smart, sexy, cool and the kind of girl a guy would really want to marry, she's compassionate and wants to help Peter in his quest.
That quest is predicated by the fact that while Peter gets along fabulously with females, he needs to find a best man for his wedding. And he really has no male friends. He needs a bromance.
That is the simple, high-concept driving premise at the root of "I Love You, Man."
Peter does a series of man dates. These scenes come quick and hit to the point, with the look and feel of news clips of a speed-dating session. With each vignette, it becomes more obvious that Peter's situation is not going to be easily extricable.
Then Peter meets Sydney (Segel), an unapologetic, self-indulgent, 100 percent male. He's not a chauvinist, not a gigolo and, even if self-centered, not at all unlikeable.
Sydney shows Peter his "man cave" and there's merriment, mayhem and jamming to the band Rush, a group who - unbeknownst to me - is the ultimate dude band.
The male-bonding plot never gets as tedious as it sounds on paper, and a subplot has Peter (an L.A.-based Realtor) trying to sell a gigantic house owned by Lou Ferrigno -TV's Hulk and not an A-List client. The other subplot follows Zooey and her girlfriends. All of these girls know the most intimate of moments in Zooey's life, and it's a good counterpoint to Peter's lack of friends.
As always with this sort of film, there are scenes filled with raunchy humor, lewd language and some skin. But at its core, despite obviously playing in a court filled with clichés, "I Love You, Man" is good for what it is. Rudd and Segel deserve as much credit for their roles as Hamburg deserves for his understanding of what "bromantic" might actually mean.[[In-content Ad]]
Jim Wunderle owns Wunderle Sound Services and is a Springfield freelance writer and musician. He can be reached at info@wunderlesound.com.
