My wife and I just finished watching this one; we found it to be funny and an all around quality comedy. I think you will like this one also if you have an open sense of humor. This is about a man who is engaged to be married. Well, there is nothing out of the ordinary about that right? But wait…there is a twist. The story is about him not having any male friends, and he seeks to find a friend that would become his best man at his wedding. He goes on a series of “Man Dates” to find someone he can hang out with and know better. This was done quite cleverly by director John Hamburg who also helped write this with Larry Levin. Hamburg was responsible for other films such as Along Came Polly (2004), Zoolander (2001) and Meet the Fockers (2004). So, if you enjoyed those films, then this will surely get your attention as well.
The setups for the scenes were played out well by leading actor Paul Rudd in the role of Peter Klaven. He is a pretty ordinary guy, who works as a realtor, trying to exclusively close a Hollywood celebrity’s home deal among many others. Rashida Jones plays his fiancée named Zooey and did very well with the part. She reminds me of actress Leah Remini from the television series “The King of Queens”. Maybe they could play sisters in another film. I recognized Jason Segel who plays Sydney Fife in this film. He has done a number of television shows including the short lived “Freaks and Geeks” which was pretty clever series.
Sarah Burns plays a character named Hailey that is single who is a best friend of Zooey. Jaime Pressly also appears in this as her good friend Denise. She is married to Barry who is played by actor/director Jon Favreau. I enjoyed seeing SNL (Saturday Night Live) cast member Jane Curtin appear in this as Joyce Klaven the mother of Peter. Her husband was played by J.K. Simmons as Oswald Klaven. Andy Samberg plays Robbie Klaven Peters younger brother. Greg Levine appears as Hailey’s Date, Jean Villepique is Leanne (Davis Dunn Receptionist), and Rob Huebel is Tevin Downey.
The tagline for this was “Are You Man Enough To Say It?” I think the entire concept was silly, but it seemed to play out well by the end of the story. For films like this the actors can make or break the movie, this time they made it work. Check this one out if you are in the mood for a pretty humorous comedy.
If you enjoy parodies then this one should amuse you. There are a number of films this one pokes fun of in a pretty clever way. I’ve seen this several times since its release. I found it funny since I’ve seen all the films they were making fun of. For those who haven’t seen these you might not get it entirely, but you will still probably laugh at the scenes that were put together. Joel Gallen directed this one, and there was a collaborative writing effort by Mike Bender, Adam Jay Epstein, Andrew Jacobson, Phil Beauman, and Buddy Johnson.
The school where this takes place in is fittingly called John Hughes high school, in honor of the late director/writer/producer. He was responsible for a number of teen movies over the years, as well as other films. Chyler Leigh plays Janey Briggs and is a knock off character from She’s All That (1999) originally played by Rachael Leigh Cook as Laney Boggs. This was Chris Evans first film role playing Jake Wyler also a knock off character from She’s All That (1999) that starred Freddie Prinze Jr. as Zack Siler. Janey’s father is played by Randy Quaid as Mr. Briggs.
Jaime Pressly plays Priscilla a similar character from Bring It On (2000) a part played by Kirsten Dunst as Torrance Shipman. Chris Evans character is also a throwback to the Tom Cruise character from All the Right Moves (1983). His friend Eric Christian Olsen plays the character Austin much like the character Lance Harbor from Varsity Blues (1999) originally played by Paul Walker. Sam Huntington is Ox similar from the character from Varsity Blues (1999) played originally by Ron Lester as Billy Bob.
Arliss Howard originally starred in Plain Clothes (1988) a movie about a cop who goes undercover and back to high school this was referenced by Beverly Polcyn’s character Sadie Agatha Johnson. She later has an award nominated kiss with actress Mia Kirshner as Catherine Wyler in reference to Kathryn Merteuil a character once played by Sarah Michelle Gellar in Cruel Intentions (1999) you will have to see it to believe it. Lacey Chabert appears in this as Amanda Becker, a character once portrayed by Jennifer Love Hewitt in Can’t Hardly Wait (1998) as Amanda. Eric Jungmann plays the awkward Ricky Lipman; a similar character from Pretty in Pink (1986) once played by Jon Cryer as Duckie (Phil Dale) with qualities of Ethan Embry’s character Preston from Can’t Hardly Wait (1998) as well. Deon Richmond plays Malik, Ron Lester is Reggie Ray, Cody McMains is Mitch Briggs, Joanna Garcia is Sandy Sue, Samm Levine is Bruce, and Cerina Vincent is Areola.
There are more references to The Breakfast Club (1985) as well as Road Trip (2000). And a number of lines are recited from the film American Pie (1999). Molly Ringwald also makes a cameo appearance in this as a Flight Attendant she has appeared in a number of teen films over the years, including Sixteen Candles (1984) another John Hughes film.
The plot is a typical one, interweaving these movies together in some kind of way. There are the usual stereotype characters in a teenage comedy film. I think you will enjoy this one it was pretty silly.
