Well, it's finally happened. Men have co-opted the last refuge of female moviegoers: the romantic comedy, or romcom for short.

"I Love You, Man" does it with such funny familiarity, you probably won't mind that it's Paul Rudd and Jason Segel instead of, say, Katherine Heigl and James Marsden or Patrick Dempsey and Michelle Monaghan.

Directed and co-written by John Hamburg, "I Love You, Man" is about the budding and platonic friendship between a real estate agent named Peter Klaven (Rudd) and an investments expert and Venice beach bum named Sydney Fife (Segel).

Welcome to the wonderful world of bromance -- or romance involving two straight men, "man dates" and man caves.

After Peter asks girlfriend Zooey (Rashida Jones) to marry him, she speed-dials and conferences in her girlfriends, but he has no one urgent to call. When he and his fiancee go to his parents' house for dinner, they and his younger brother, Robbie (Andy Samberg), talk about how Peter has always been a "girlfriend guy who put all his energy into relationships."

Since Zooey has a half-dozen friends ready to be bridesmaids, Peter begins to feel as if he needs some pals to fill out the groomsmen side of the wedding party. Peter's mother and Robbie, a personal trainer who happens to be gay, set Peter up on some "man dates," and the groom-to-be even joins a regular poker game but with disastrous results.

Serendipity saves the day, and Peter meets Sydney at an open house. Sydney is there to pick up free food and divorcees, but the two click and it's the start of a beautiful but occasionally bumpy bromance.

"I Love You, Man" takes all the romcom staples, from the meet-cute to the awkward first call and date, full-fledged friendship, merging of the new pal into the group, friction and the possibility of a breakup and request for belongings back, and applies them to two dudes.

Rudd and Segel happen to be two very funny dudes who comically complement each other, with Peter the fussier, more uptight and traditional of the pair and Sydney the laid-back, casually dressed guy who lives near Venice Beach and would rather roar at people who complain about his dog's droppings than actually clean them up.

They bring out the best in each other and are the heart of the movie. (R-rated by the way, in case you have tweens who love Segel on TV's "How I Met Your Mother.") But Hamburg doesn't surround them with no-name players in supporting roles.

In addition to Jones, who played Jim's onetime squeeze Karen on "The Office," and "Saturday Night Live" player Samberg, the cast includes Jane Curtin and J.K. Simmons as Peter's parents, Jaime Pressly as one of Zooey's best friends and business partners and Jon Favreau as her boorish husband. A famous face also turns up as one of Peter's clients trying to sell his $4 million house.

"I Love You, Man" manages to both recycle and reinvent the romcom and provide some insights into the differences between female and male friendships. Its jokes about flatulence, masturbation and sexual practices seem squarely aimed at men, but I couldn't resist falling for its giddy goofiness, goodwill and leading men.