I Love You Man

Release Date: March 20th, 2009

Click here for the I Love You Man Trailer.

One of the first comedies of the new year, I Love You Man produces a comedic cast lead by funny men Paul Rudd(Role Models) and Jason Segel(Forgetting Sarah Marshall).

Peter(Rudd) is a mild mannered real estate agent who just proposed to his beautiful girlfriend Zooey(Rashida Jones, The Office). When the two of them begin to make arrangements, Zooey discovers that her new fiance Peter has no real and, as a result, no groomsmen and even no best man. Upon realizing this, Peter embarks on a mission to find a new best friend. After a series of "man-dates", Peter begins to loose hope. But when he is hosting an open house to sell the famous Lou Ferrigno's home, Peter meets Sydney. Sydney Fife is an investments dealer who has many opinions and is not afraid to show it. Sydney is the complete opposite of Peter and the two instantly hit it off. As Peter spends more and more time hanging out with Sydney, he slowly drifts away from his future fiance Zooey. It is only when Sydney questions Peter about why he is marrying Zooey that Peter begins to wonder that answer himself. And it is here that Peter must choose between his fiance and his new found bro.

This movie is hilarious. I'm serious, it is one of the funniest movies I have seen in a while and it kept me laughing out loud from start to finish. Directer John Hamburg, who did such comedies as Along Came Polly and Meet The Parents, hits the proverbial bulls eye with I Love You Man.Paul Rudd(Role Models) delivers one of his best performances as the mild mannered Peter who becomes hysterical when he decides to break out and cut loose with his new pal Sydney played by Jason Segel(Forgetting Sarah Marshall). Segel's character is charming, funny and very opinionated, but above all, he is a little whacked. One of the funniest things about the movie was the way Paul Rudd displayed the weird, quirky awkwardness of Peter. Sydney would continuously give Peter nicknames like "Pistol" and every attempt by Peter to do the same ended in some sort of nickname throw-up like Peters first attempt at a nickname "Jobin" which has absolutely nothing to do with anything. But it wasn't just these two front men that kept the laughs coming. This movie had an all-star cast of very funny people. Jamie Pressley(My Name Is Earl) and Jon Favreau(director, Iron Man) who plays Zooey's best friend and her husband add to the flame as the crazy married couple who seem like they hate each other but are really madly in love. Peter's parents, played by Jane Curtin and J.K. Simmons, are the typical embarrassing parents who have those traditional awkward moments that make the child wish he were dead. Andy Samberg(Saturday Night Live) plays Peter's gay brother, who also attempts to hook him up on some "man-dates" which do not end well. So the cast of comedians does one thing that some movies con not, keep the laughs coming. In most movies with more than one or two good comedians, the actors tend to shadow each other or steal the show. The flow doesn't seemed balanced, like the performers are trying to out do each other. However, in I Love You Man, the laughs are spread out among the entire cast and each one has a different flavor to bring. It's kind of like mixing all of the flavors in the soda fountain together in one cup, except it tastes good. Even the Incredible Hulk himself, Lou Feriggno, makes an appearance. I do not think I can express how truly funny this movie is. The style of comedy is so different from some of the lame attempts in today's cinemas.

I can't recall any major flaws about this movie. The only thing I could count as a flaw or negative was that some of the premises in the movie are made to make the characters feel awkward, but, do to the extreme weirdness of them, make the audience feel awkward at the same time. There are many points in the movie when I was watching when I put my head down from embarrassment and I wasn't even in the movie. But other than that this movie was spot on. A definite comedic work of art that will certainly bring joy and outrageous laughter to anyone who watches. I Love You Man gets 9 Man-Dates out of 10.

Paul Blart: Mall Cop

Release Date: January 16th, 2009

Click here for the Paul Blart: Mall Cop Trailer.

The first comedy I've seen for the new year and..........I was a little dissapointed. Kevin James plays Paul Blart; a single father from New Jersey who still lives at home with his mom, works as a security guard at the local mall, and wants nothing more than to become a New Jersey State Police Officer. But Blart has one problem, he falls asleep whenever he doesn't get enough sugar in his system.

A 10 year veteran at the mall Blart hasn't had to deal with anymore than a punk kid or a shoplifter. Then one fatefull day some people break in and try to rob the credit card machienes. When Blart is the last one left and he finds out that the bad guys have his dream girl hostage, he goes from lonely security guard to super mall cop and tries to save the day armed only with what wits he has, the best knowledge of the mall, and his trusty segway.

I think Kevin James is a good actor and a funny comedian but, like so many comedies these days, Mall Cop doesn't quite rach the mark. Now when I first saw the previews for this movie I thought "Hey that looks pretty funny." And even though I thought it was a funny movie I still wanted more. This is surprising due to the fact that the movie was produced by Happy Madison, the movie company created by Adam Sandler and the same company that does all of Sandler's movies.

Kevin James was the only main stream name in the movie, except for one or two of what I like to call "The Sandler Gang", these are the guys you can always spot in all of Sandlers movies. But other than that, no one else was really that well known. However all the characters that were in the film were good actors that made their roles believable. I personally did not like the character of Paul Blart's daughter. She was a portly, latino 12 year old whose main purpose in the movie was to add that sweet, tender life time movie aspect that, for me, deters away from the whole comedy aspect because it is trying for a serious sentimental moment. The fact that all the robbers were like professional skate boarders, bmx riders, and free runners was actually pretty cool as they chased Blart through the mall doing all kinds of stunts. The ending threw me a twist, which doesn't happen often for me. I can honestly say that I was surprised.

All in all this movie didn't suck (although my girlfriend thought otherwise). I thought it was a reasonably funny movie but not one that had me rolling or wiping the tears from my eyes. It could of had a little bit more to it. I give Paul Blart: Mall Cop 7 over weight security guards out of 10