The annual SXSW Film Festival kicked off Friday night in Austin, TX with the premiere of the new buddy comedy I Love You, Man, starring snuggly everymen Paul Rudd and Jason Segel. After basking in the glow of their rapturous welcome to the Lone Star State, Rudd, Segel, and the writer/director John Hamburg sat down on Saturday to talk about some of their most beloved buddy movies.
Jason: One of my favorites was Swingers. Me and Seth Rogen were young when that came out. I was probably 17. And the notion that Jon Favreau had written that gave Seth and I a lot of inspiration. Like, if these guys are doing that, that’s what we should be doing.
John: My cousin Doug, Doug Liman, directed that. And I remember when he brought the dailies to a Passover seder. He was like, ”You got to watch these performances from these guys!” He showed us the scene at the coffee shop at the end when he thinks the girl is flirting with him. And Doug is like, ”This guy Vince Vaughn is in it and he’s amazing.” And we all watched, and it was incredible, and then we continued the seder.
Paul: That’s like so much of the seders that I went to back during that same time. It was just like that! Only my Grandfather was balancing a spoon on his nose, and he had no footage of a film to show us. [Laughter] There’s this great movie called Withnail & I.
Jason: Awww, so good!
Paul: It’s a British movie set in London in 1969, starring Richard E. Grant and Paul McGann. It’s really funny and I love their relationship. Withnail is a character and then the main character whose name is never said is I. Although, in the script, his name is Marwood, and I know that because I’ve read books on the movies. Bruce Robinson wrote and directed it and he only did three movies.
John: Jennifer 8—underrated!
Paul: Also the movie that drove him from the business apparently.
John: I’ll tell you another great buddy relationship. The Dude and Walter from The Big Lebowski.
Jason: Ohhhhhh, so good!
John: Amazing performances, always feels real, and you just knowthat they love each other beneath all of their conflict. The momentwhen they throw Buscemi’s ashes into the wind and it goes back into theDude’s face!
Jason: Ohhh! That’s a beautiful moment because he says, ”F—, Walter! F—!’ But then Walter hugs him. [Jason hugs himself.]
Paul: Then of course Midnight Run…
Jason: Midnight Run is a great comedy. Midnight Cowboy.
John: You know, Midnight Run is probably my favorite buddy movie of all time.
Jason: Midnight Express!
John: I’ve talked to DeNiro about Midnight Run and he hasn’t given me anything. I wanted some great stories and I didn’t get them.
Paul: I love the movies that always paired up Gene Wilder and Richard Pryor. Like Stir Crazy and Silver Streak.
Jason: Remember See No Evil, Hear No Evil?!
John: We should remake Stir Crazy with you two!
Jason: We should remake See No Evil, Hear No Evil!
John: Yes! But with different actors!
Paul: What else? In trying to veer away from just the classics, like Paul Newman and Robert Redford movies, or The Odd Couple…
Jason: Dumb & Dumber is great.
John: Yes! They’re so sweet with eachother. Okay, a double feature of Dumb & Dumber and Withnail & I. You’d be low brow and then high brow, but in equally funny ways.
J: You might want to reverse it though. I would watch Withnail & I, then you get to relax your brain a little with Dumb & Dumber.
John: Withnail & I would be your amuse bouche. And then you come in with your entrée.
P: That’s a win-win situation. Either way you go, you’re good.
What about you, PopWatchers? Which excellent buddy comedies didthese good guys leave off their list? And, at the risk of being a buzzkill, when will Hollywood invest in more female buddy movies that couldgo toe to toe with any of these listed lovable films?
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Hah thought i was the only one who liked jennifer 8
I want to see this movie but John Hamburg…who I’ve never heard of is quite a name dropper in this article. He comes across quite tool like.
Shaun of the Dead and Hot Fuzz! Pretty much anything by Kevin Smith! And I know they’re TV shows, BUT: I love the buddy relationships between JD and Turk on Scrubs, and between Alan Shore and Denny Crane on Boston Legal.
When it comes to female buddy movies, I feel that in Hollywood’s eyes, females can’t be buddies. You have to have backstabbing (a la Mean Girls), or something deeper (a la Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants) in order for it to sell. It’s always about something other than the females’ friendship. What is there–Thelma and Louise? What else that’s good? We need fewer Romy and Michelle’s High School Reunions and more Ghost Worlds.
Reply to Cee – Baby Mama is the only female buddies I can come up with and I had to think about it for awhile. Let’s beg Tina Fey and Amy Poelher to make more movies!
I second Hot Fuzz and Shaun of the Dead. And to add to the Brit list – Hugh Laurie and Stephen Fry.
Hot Fuzz is a great buddy movie. Bio-Dome is my favorite though. Pauly Shore and Stephen Baldwin. *sigh*
My friends all swear by Withnail & I. I confess here that I just plain didn’t get it.
Can someone send me the email address of John Hamburg or Larry Levin. My last name is “Klaven” and I’m trying to find out where they found my name to use in the movie. If you can’t send me these addresses, can you suggest a solution to my request.
Thanks,
Marvin Klaven
Four Weddings and a Funeral (the brotherhood between the male friends), Kevin Smith comedies (except Jersey Girl), Judd Aptow comedies, Harold and Kumar films, Superbad, and Hot Fuzz/Shaun of the Dead.
BTW: I think that this movie is worth the movie just to see Lou Ferrigno beat the snot out of Jason Segel.