Although not part of this particular production, Judd Apatow’s influence is all over I Love You, Man. It’s about man-boys struggling to maintain some semblance of their carefree past while adulthood is approaching head-on with all the trappings there in. From a rather goofy premise comes a satisfying, laugh-filled movie that resonates on an emotional level as well as a comedic one. A terrific cast is led by two capable and charismatic leads, who even when acting their most juvenile are still coming off as rather genuine. It’s an impressive feat because, frankly, I wasn’t expecting this movie to be quite so funny.

Paul Rudd is perhaps in his best form ever as Peter, a real estate agent that’s just proposed to his girlfriend Zooey (Rashida Jones) and has come to realize that he has no male friends. After much trial and error he meets Sydney (Jason Segel), an investment banker that lives life according to his own rules, often from a shed in the back of his house that he affectionately calls the “man-cave.” Peter and Sydney start to hang out, and the two truly become BFFs, but when Sydney’s unvarnished honesty begins to rub off on Peter there’s trouble in paradise. As a result, the simplest of social functions, making a friend, ends up putting the whole shebang at risk.

So alright, we’re not dealing with a great plume of originality here. There is something rather predictable about how the film unfolds, there was really nothing surprising in the way that the story unfolded. But frankly I wasn’t thinking of any of that while the film was running because I was too busy laughing. Rudd and Segel are a potent comedy team, with Segel as the funnyman and Rudd as the stooge in a classical comedic dyad. But it’s not that Segel’s Sydney is an ignorant buffoon that’s all id and no thinking, and it’s not like Rudd is a stiff whose job is to react to the obscurities that Segel performs.

More than that, you can feel that these two guys are true friends, and much of the comedy between them wouldn’t work if that weren’t the case. What’s more is that many of the supporting characters aren’t really that broadly dawn either. I mean sure, Joe Lo Truglio as Lonnie the “Voice Crack Guy” is pretty one note and making fun of professional soccer is like shooting fish in a barrel, but this is a rare example of comedy that doesn’t work. But J.K. Simmons as Paul’s father is somewhat brilliant in his small role, as is former Hulk Lou Ferrigno in a blatant but overall cool cameo. Mostly though, this is the Rudd and Segel show with a side of Jones who’s charming and believable in the usually harsh role of the put upon girlfriend.

If there’s flaw, it’s that the film is a little too long, and in places a little too derivative of other entries in the genre. But the plus side is that this movie is so utterly hysterical that you barely notice its few rough patches and you just sit back and enjoy the kind of silly, kind of serious developments. Rudd and Segel are a dynamic team and I could easily see something involving the further adventures of these two guys. But then again, I’m still dying to see musical, puppet Dracula as shown in portion last year in Forgetting Sarah Marshall. So maybe I shouldn’t be putting too much on Segel’s plate, but unfortunately for him, the guy’s just too good.