I Love You, Man

Rating:

Directed by: John Hamburg

The Skinny: Peter Klaven (Paul Rudd) is the kind of guy whose had a lot of "girl" friends but no bros. On the eve of his wedding, he sets out to find a best friend/best man—which brings the eccentric Sydney Fife (Jason Segel) into his life.

The Good: Despite not being a top outing for either, Rudd and Segel have enough chemistry and I Love You, Man has enough solid laughs to do absolutely no harm to either of their trajectories. By far the movie's best gags revolve around Peter's complete inability to master "guy slang"—His weak attempts at nicknames and witty sign-offs are amazing, and will likely get the Youtube montage they richly deserve. And J.K. Simmons, in roughly 2 or 3 scenes, proves he can do no comedic wrong.

The Bad: The movie's premise is a little thin. For example, Peter has a brother—played by SNL's Andy Samberg—and it's never quite explained why he's not the best man (other than the constant references to his being gay, but why would that disqualify him?). Regardless, the movie meanders a bit in the search for an ending. But as lightweight entertainment, it does its job.

Iron Man: Jon Favreau takes time out of plotting sequels to his multi-million dollar box office blockbusters to deliver one of the movie's other highlights. His asshole character deserves his own movie.

Theater, DVD, or TNT in five years? Not as memorable as 40 Year Old Virgin or even Role Models, but a decent outing. You can probably wait for DVD, though.

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Duplicity

Rating:

Directed by: Tony Gilroy

The Skinny: A former MI-6 operative-turned-corporate spy (Clive Owen) and a former CIA agent-turned-corporate spy (Julia Roberts) mix business with pleasure and spend a great deal of time romancing, scheming, and, of course, distrusting one another.

The Good: Director/writer Gilroy also penned the Bourne movies, so he's adept at twisty, back-stabby plots. Duplicity is, for lack of a better term, a spy rom-com that, unlike the similar Mr. and Mrs. Smith relies on whip-smart banter and verbal duels rather than straight up domestic violence. Owen and Roberts are a great match—in fact, we can't recall ever enjoying a Roberts performance as much as we did this one. She seems looser, more relaxed, like she's stopped trying to convince anyone she's a "serious actress." The movie moves at a brisk pace, and has some genuinely funny moments.

The Bad: The "big reveal" midway through is played a little too seriously, so it may elicit some chuckles from the audience when characters keep repeating…well, we won't spoil it, but suffice to say once the "mystery product" is unveiled, some of the ensuing dialogue gets a little silly. Other than that, we would have liked to have seen more of Tom Wilkinson and Paul Giamatti as dueling CEOs. But, of course, they do good work with the limited time they're given.

We're Confused: So this is a movie not based on a graphic novel, not about teenagers, and featuring smart adults doing adult things? And it isn't a foreign film? Wow…

Theater, DVD, or TNT in five years? This is a great slice of entertainment that you don't have to geek out over to enjoy. So…enjoy.

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The Great Buck Howard

Rating:

Directed by: Sean McGinly

The Skinny: A confused young man (Colin Hanks) decides he's living his father's dream more than his own and drops out of law school. Looking for work, he takes a job as the personal assistant to a once-famous but no less egotistical "mentalist" named Buck Howard (John Malkovich).

The Good: Malkovich! His Buck Howard is all toothy grin and violent handshake, and it's really a great comedic character. The movie rests on his shoulders and whenever he's onscreen it all clicks. This isn't a "laugh out loud" movie, however. It's just pleasantly amusing throughout. And Emily Blunt is adorable and funny, which has us hoping she'll avoid the stuffy, self-serious corset dramas that seem to ensnare quality British actresses (Emily, look on Keira Knightley and despair!).

The Bad: Although funny at parts, the movie also has an unabashed sentimental streak that teeters a little too close to cheese. It doesn't quite tip over, but it gets close. Hanks is likable enough, but a bit bland. The only time he really comes to life are in the scenes with his dad, Tom, who drops in to play his character's father in a nice bit of stunt casting.

Zahn and Forgotten: A weird little subplot involving Steve Zahn as a handlebar mustache life support system tasked with driving Howard around ends up really going nowhere and seems like a pointless detour in the movie. Could have used an edit.

Theater, DVD, or TNT in five years? A rental recommendation on the strength of Malkovich's performance alone.