JOHN HAMBURG

Bil’s rating (out of 5):   BBBB. 

USA, 2009.  DreamWorks, De Line Pictures, Bernard Gayle Productions, The Montecito Picture Company.  Story by Larry Levin, Screenplay by John Hamburg, Larry Levin.  Cinematography by Lawrence Sher.  Produced by Donald De Line, John Hamburg.  Music by Theodore Shapiro.  Production Design by Andrew Laws.  Costume Design by Leesa Evans.  Film Editing by Allison Jones.  

Paul Rudd is amiable as a rising-star realtor who has just proposed to his girlfriend (Rashida Jones) and she has accepted. All should be perfect except for one tiny hitch: he has no friends, having been a girlfriend guy his whole adult life, and she is worried that she’ll have no one to pair her six bridesmaids up with. Rudd goes on a series of hysterical “man dates” looking for a new buddy until he comes across a free-thinking, foul-mouthed slacker (Jason Segel) who rocks his world. They follow their meet-cute with a series of dates, true bliss and a fallout, in danger of losing their relationship forever: the joke here is that the romantic relationship plays out perfectly in the background while the future happiness of these two guys has the ups and downs of a torrid love affair (and just to make sure they don’t get accused of political incorrectness, the writers give Rudd a smart-ass gay brother played by Andy Samberg to even out the tone). Rudd and Segel make a terrific on-screen team, the former especially admirable for his willingness to be the clown;  every time he tries to be cool, particularly in trying to capture buddy lingo, it’s not only painfully funny but strangely touching. The film is no classic, but it’s loaded with laughs and a cameo by the magnificence of rock band Rush.