John Hamburg‘s I Love You, Man “cranks out the kind of lowball humor that makes you gag on your own laughs,” writes Variety‘s Todd McCarthy. “Ever alert for opportunities to drop dirty bombs — and compelled to repeat every below-the-belt joke at least one time too many — pic never surmounts a deeply lame central premise that makes most of the action seem fraudulent and thoroughly unnecessary.

I Love You Man‘s Jason Segel, Paul Rudd

“[It] is propelled by the perplexing notion that a young man isn’t properly prepared for marriage or life in general unless he has a best male friend and, in the bargain, a guy who merits being his best man at the nuptials. It’s a rare film that features an operating principle less compelling or credible than this, although the script by John Hamburg and Larry Levin makes use of it to put Peter Klaven (Paul Rudd) into a succession of awkward and embarrassing encounters that can easily be — and are — misconstrued in aspiringly comic ways.

“But the notion of sending him on ‘man-dates’ in search of a best friend proves preposterously contrived, as if such a confidential and symbiotic relationship could be formed anywhere near as quickly as falling in love, or certainly lust. Add the fact that Peter’s fiancee becomes completely and understandably alienated by the process and the annoyance level hits the red zone. All the picture lacks is a nudgy mother constantly asking, ‘So when are you going to get a best friend already?'”