Five Better Movies With Paul Rudd

Our Idiot Brother is a disappointment, but Paul Rudd is always a pleasure.  Here are some better choices for those who miss that Rudd-alicious feeling:

1. How Do You Know  This was a massive box office flop, but it is now on cable and definitely worth a look for some very choice moments, especially Rudd’s performance as a good guy caught up in securities fraud and an even deeper moral dilemma.  Watch him as he recognizes the baseball player he shared an awful date with on an elevator, a social smile on his mouth and anguish in his eyes.

2. I Could Never Be Your Woman This is a terrific movie that got caught in the unrelated vortex of a financial collapse and never got the attention it deserves.  Michelle Pfeiffer is a single mom who produces a silly but popular sitcom and Rudd is the young actor who makes her fall in love in spite of herself.

3. The Object Of My Affection Rudd plays Paul, a gay teacher who moves in with a single woman he has just met (Jennifer Aniston) after a bad break-up.  The two of them quickly become close friends and then realize that they cannot hide out with each other forever.  Both Rudd and Aniston deliver their best in this bittersweet love story.

4. Clueless This bubbly delight, inspired by Jane Austen’s “Emma,” has Rudd as the (brief) former step-brother and love interest for Alicia Silverstone’s Cher.

5.  I Love You, Man In the midst of a raunchy bro-mance, Rudd is sensational as a guy who is a wonderful, devoted boyfriend but hasn’t quite figured out the trick of guy friendships until he meets Sydney (Jason Segal).  Just watch Rudd try to come up with some guy-talk and end up stumbling with “totes magotes.”