Nerd becomes one of the boys

Apr 17 2009 The Journal

TAKE a nerdy man who has particularly bad luck with women. Add a few close-to-the-bone jokes and gross-out scenarios.

Finally, ensure your comedy explores an off-the-wall relationship between the nerd and his straight friend and you have all the ingredients for the latest Hollywood movie trend – the ‘bromance’.

This sort of film, also known as the brom com or bromantic comedy, has been doing pretty well of late, with successes like Pineapple Express, Superbad and The 40-Year-Old Virgin bringing in box office bucks.

Nerdy stars like Seth Rogen, Jonah Hill and Michael Cera have found themselves launched into the Hollywood stratosphere and it looks like the geek has become hot stuff.

I Love You, Man, written and directed by Along Came Polly’s John Hamburg, begins with metrosexual sensitive estate agent Peter Klave’s (Paul Rudd) proposal to girlfriend Zooey (Rashida Jones).

Due to his lack of male friends, Peter sets out to find a suitable best man candidate. Cue a serious of hilarious ‘man dates’ before Peter meets Sydney (Jason Segal), a straight-talking singleton with a set of male buddies and his own ‘man cave’ at home complete with TVs, guitars and comfy sofas.

As the pair become friends, Peter tries his utmost to be more masculine, getting involved in risque conversations about sex, giving Sydney nonsensical buddy nicknames and joining in on impromptu jamming sessions.

"There’s an open-mindedness about the character that I like," says Paul.

"He has a positive attitude, is well-meaning and often wears his heart on his sleeve but there’s something bumbling about him.

"I feel pretty connected to the character. I tend to think of myself as more of an optimist in the way that Peter in this movie is."

Jason adds: "The thing I really liked about the script is it wasn’t a cynical look at a guy trying to make friends with other guys.

"There certainly wasn’t a homophobic element about it, which could have been a pitfall."

In reality, 40-year-old Paul is pretty different to the comic roles he’s famous for playing in Forgetting Sarah Marshall, Knocked Up and The 40 Year Old Virgin. Married to former publicist Julie Yaeger, he leads a settled life in a New York apartment with his four-year-old-son Jack – there’s not a man cave in sight. "I have a wife and a kid, so the apartment decoration is not too bachelor-y or anything like that," says Paul.

His 29-year-old co-star, on the other hand, is still single and lives in Los Angeles.

"I have a room that’s kind of a man cave, although I’m single so I don’t need to hide it in my garage," says Jason, whose movie breakthrough came last year, when he wrote and starred in Forgetting Sarah Marshall.

"It’s got some instruments in it and about 40 puppets.

"I have the puppets from Forgetting Sarah Marshall, a bunch of toy store puppets and a few puppets that I’ve made. I’m realising that as I start to date, I should hide them in a garage somewhere because it’s creepy."

Despite their differences, 6ft 4in Jason and 5ft 10in Paul are pretty close. They finish each other’s sentences, laugh at the same jokes and have even turned up to the interview dressed in V-neck jumpers, shirts and ties.

"Sadly it’s a total coincidence," laughs Paul.

"When I walked in, I said ‘I’m so happy you got the V-neck and tie memo’. Everyone thinks that it’s some plan. It’s really embarrassing. Then I noticed we’re wearing the same shoes."

It goes without saying that the pair agree on the scenario for their perfect man date.

"I’d like to go and grab a few pints and have a British breakfast and then maybe go and see some art. And then probably head to the Greek theatre to catch a show," says Jason.

Paul agrees. "I like concerts, I like shows, I like art," he says. "My favourite meal of the day is breakfast. It’s crucial. And then I’d scour the LA Weekly to see if there was anything going on at the Greek amphitheatre."

"And then call it a night," Jason chimes in.

These two actors may be familiar to audiences for their capacity to create laughs, but perhaps part of their success in these bromantic roles is their ability to connect with their more vulnerable, serious sides.

"Men don’t really show their vulnerabilities or we’re not conditioned to," says Jason.

"In most of my male relationships we like joking around and all that kind of stuff.

"But I’ve never felt like I couldn’t show vulnerability or tell a friend I loved them, or if I have a problem, talk about it with him.

"We realised that if you want to dissect the actual expression ‘I love you, man,’ the ‘man’ is the qualifier that makes it okay. There’s something that makes it a little more casual."

With careers are catapulting upwards, Jason is to head to England to film Gulliver’s Travels with Emily Blunt and Jack Black, while Paul – whose parents are English immigrants and whose favourite movie is cult British film Withnail & I – will be making an as-yet untitled movie directed by James Brookes.

So, would they do another movie together?

"We’ve worked together on a few things and I hope it continues, it’s really fun," says Paul.

"We’re trying to bring it back to the old school comedy teams," winks Jason.

I Love You, Man is on general release from today.