Having told the world he’s the title character, billionaire CEO Tony Stark (Downey) finds himself plagued by problems. A rival CEO (Sam Rockwell) wants to bury him, the government wants his high-tech suit, the physicist son (Mickey Rourke) of a disgraced Russian scientist wants revenge on him and, oh yeah, the mini-reactor keeping him alive is slowly killing him.

I’m all for making the hero flawed and human and all that, but the when-it-rains-it-pours approach taken here by screenwriter Justin Theroux generates too much material, and too many characters, for one movie. As such it all feels a little unfocused, at least up until the entertaining finale.

Which is kind of frustrating, because a lot of the plot elements are sound, be it Stark’s screwball-comedy relationship with his loyal assistant (Gwyneth Paltrow), his friendship with his military buddy (Don Cheadle) or the intriguing father-son theme, which results in the film’s best moment, a truly touching scene in which Stark watches his dead dad (Mad Men’s John Slattery) on a reel-to-reel film.

Rourke, all greasy locks, tattoos and Russian accent, starts out strong, oozing muscular menace as he unleashes awesome destruction with a sweet pair of homemade laser whips at the Grand Prix in Monaco where he confronts Stark. Rockwell kind of feels like a Stark clone at times, but the amusing used-car-salesman vibe he brings to the part makes the character just different enough.

I never bought Rourke as a scientist, though, no matter how much director Jon Favreau shows him clacking away on a keyboard. And the character basically becomes dead weight after teaming up with Rockwell. He’s one villain too many, just as Scarlett Johansson, as S.H.I.E.L.D. agent Black Widow, is one hero too many, despite her close-fitting costume and convincing martial arts skills.

Luckily, and despite the sluggish way he opens the film, Favreau (Zathura) knows how to pace the action stuff. The terrific Monte Carlo chaos aside, we get a fun Iron Man-suit mano a mano between Downey and Cheadle, as well as a super finale featuring hordes of robot drones that’s epic, exciting and, most importantly, not just an overwhelming frenzy of pricey-looking CGI.

Of course, it would all be for naught without Downey’s deftness. He owns the role. He’s funny, charismatic and confident, and absolutely enlivens the film. He also gives the hero, as well as the movie, the necessary emotional weight. But he doesn’t get the film’s funniest line, the last line of the film. That honor goes to Garry Shandling, cast, rather appropriately, as a smarmy senator. – [DVD] [Blu-Ray]

Action/Adventure/Sci-Fi

Rated PG-13

DVD Release Date: 9/28/10

Concocted by stars Vince Vaughn and Jon Favreau, it sends four Chicago couples with marriage woes to a tropical paradise resort that, much to the chagrin of three of the couples, turns out to be a sort of rehab for relationships run by a Zen-like Frenchman (Jean Reno).

The film’s funniest early on. Vaughn juggles simultaneous phone calls, deals with a son peeing where he shouldn’t, and Jason Bateman and Kristen Bell’s uptight couple put on a Power Point presentation for their friends. The later scenes of the couples in actual therapy also made me chuckle, mainly because John Michael Higgins and Ken Jeong play two of the therapists.

But far too many of the situations are uninspired, juvenile or simply tedious, be it Vaughn and Bateman being threatened by sharks, Favreau’s visible arousal during a massage or just about any time the characters stop to seriously discuss their feelings. As a first-time director, Vaughn pal Peter Billingsley (Ralphie in A Christmas Story), though competent, fails to liven any of it up.

He also needs a lesson in editing, as numerous scenes tend to drag on. One of them–a Guitar Nation showdown with the resort’s British host–could have been cut entirely. And while I was amused by both the Brit (Peter Serafinowicz) and the cartoonishly hunky yoga instructor (Carlos Ponce) the first time I saw them, their novelty wore off after their second and third appearances.

Vaughn does his usual, semi-amusing riffing, Favreau is grossly unpleasant, Bateman is just plain whiny and Faizon Love, as the buddy with the college-age girlfriend, adds very little for being such a (very) big guy. I liked the women, including Kristin Davis and Malin Akerman, a lot more, and not just because they’re easy on the eyes, though I wouldn’t mind being a couple with any one of them. – [DVD]

Comedy

Rated PG-13

DVD Release Date: 2/9/10

So, yeah, kids will absolutely love it. I mean, it’s got talking CGI animals, plenty of dialogue of the “Get your butt out of my face! Get your face out of my butt!” variety and guinea pigs riding around in remote-controlled cars and using tiny parachutes. Forget about the actual plot, which has something to do with stopping a billionaire CEO (Bill Nighy) from taking over the world.

Adults may be less tolerant, especially with the finale that wigs out into Transformers-like turmoil, but they can at least entertain themselves by trying to figure out who (Sam Rockwell, Nicolas Cage, Penelope Cruz, Steve Buscemi and Jon Favreau) voices whom. That being said, I easily recognized the whiny pipes of Tracy Jordan (TV’s 30 Rock) and wished he’d just shut up.

Aside from Nighy (The Girl in the Café), Zach Galifianakis and Will Arnett also appear in live-action form, and they all manage to keep a straight face, though I’m not so sure about their dignity. At the very least the movie’s success at the box office is career gravy for Galifianakis, who also appeared in The Hangover.

In deference to the tots, director Hoyt Yeatman keeps it all zipping along, while some grown-ups may appreciate the decently done car chase that sees an SUV flying through the air and landing on, and destroying, a Winnebago. There’s also an amusing moment when a pet shop customer refers to the title team’s lone mole as “a crime against nature.” I’m sure some will say the same about the movie. – [DVD]

Action/Adventure/Family/Fantasy

Rated PG

DVD Release Date: 12/15/09

The story is thus: Reese Witherspoon and Vince Vaughn play self-absorbed, in-love yuppies who always spend Christmas apart from their respective families. This year, though, their flight to Fiji is cancelled, and they are coaxed into a visit to each of their four parents’ households. Much levity and dysfunctional family humor ensue. I haven’t really liked Vince Vaughn too much since Swingers, but his character does have ample chemistry with that of Reese Witherspoon’s, and Reese is, as always, really fun to watch.

But there were parts of Four Christmases that were decidedly unfunny for me. One of many examples of this would be a baby being forcefully knocked in the head.

What did appeal to me were the supporting performances of Robert Duvall, Sissy Spacek, Mary Steenburgen, and Jon Voight (his soliloquy on family sounded like a personal message to his daughter, Angelina Jolie). And if that weren’t enough, you also have Jon Favreau, Tim McGraw, Kristen Chenoweth and Dwight Yoakam. I first really noticed Dwight’s acting chops in Slingblade, where he was villainous and amazing, and then later in The Three Burials of Melquiades Estrada. Four Christmases is worth seeing for these actors alone.

There are two other redeeming factors, if you need ‘em. One is the, of course, happy ending. The other is that after seeing this level of family madness, our own families don’t seem so bad. I still prefer holiday movies like Home for the Holidays and Pieces of April much more than Four Christmases, but check out these seasoned actors, and kick off the holiday season with a fluff movie peppered with some deeper messages. – [DVD]

Comedy/Drama/Romance

Rated PG-13

DVD Release Date: 11/24/09

Rudd plays a newly engaged California realtor who gets along famously with the friends of his fiancee (Rashida Jones), and women in general, but has no male friends to speak of and so no prospective best man. That is, until he hits it off with Segel. They bond over fish tacos and rock out to Rush.

To me the film didn’t seem as vulgar as Marshall, especially in how it foregoes any full-frontal nudity by Segel, and so I didn’t mind all the swearing or constant discussions about certain adult activities as much. And it all has a nice, loose-but not too loose-improvisational feel thanks to director and co-writer John Hamburg (Safe Men), who nonetheless could have cut the scene where Rudd educates Jones on said prog-rock band.

Plus it’s reliably funny, from the man-dates Rudd goes on to find a male buddy to Segel’s play-by-play of a guy who won’t fart near his girlfriend, to Rudd’s failed attempts to say “see ya later” in a cool way, to the way Rudd and Segel’s inevitable break-up involves a discussion of Chocolat. There’s also the hilarious fight Segel picks with Ferrigno that ends with Segel in a sleeper hold.

Rudd just seems to get funnier with each film, and here he elicits laughs not only from his expressions, like when a gay man-date (Thomas Lennon) lays a French kiss on him, but also from his tendency to sound Irish when trying imitate Jamaicans or Brits. Not to mention how he slaps his slick jerk of a co-worker (Rob Huebel) in telling the guy to get lost.

Segel’s easy-going man-boy slob made me laugh, too, from little things like telling Rudd not to make Ferrigno (whose house Rudd is trying to sell) mad, to bigger ones, like his string of curses after getting a golf ball to the shin. His role is also the more interesting one, in that he’s essentially a male etiquette mentor for Rudd.

Then there’s the talented supporting cast, most of which has little to do. J.K. Simmons makes a funny impression as Rudd’s dad, whose best friends are Rudd’s gay brother (Andy Samberg) and a guy named “Hank Markdukas.” Jones is fine as the typically sweet and intelligent girlfriend who has typically supportive gal pals (Jaime Pressly and Sarah Burns). Lennon (17 Again) makes the hysterical most of his all-too-brief screen time.

I can certainly see how people might tire of Rudd’s ultimate-nice-guy act, or find Segel boorish and annoying, or even be put off by the seemingly incessant profanity (though Rudd hardly swears at all). I myself could have done without Jon Favreau as Pressly’s overly-aggressive, cigar-chomping husband who constantly belittles Rudd.

But I still liked the movie, and what’s more, I could relate all too easily to the social awkwardness Rudd experiences when trying to bond with other men, be it playing cards with Favreau’s friends or not being invited on a bachelor party/camping trip by some fellow fencing fellows. That alone raisesI Love You, Man a few notches above your average cuss-filled comedy. – [DVD]

Comedy/Romance

Rated R

DVD Release Date: 8/11/09