Ten Performances We Can’t Wait to Watch This Spring

From Billy Crudup's Dr. Manhattan to Michael Fassbender's Bobby Sands...

Paul Rudd and Jason Segel in “I Love You, Man”
Directed by John Hamburg
Opens March 20

The success of an entry in the increasingly popular bromantic comedy genre depends on the oil-and-water chemistry of the leads and “I Love You, Man” from John Hamburg (“Along Came Polly”) should have that in spades. The two leads seem perfectly cast: Paul Rudd, who’s had great recent success as a straight-laced guy bursting to break from the shackles of normalcy (see: “Knocked Up,” “Role Models”), plays a freshly engaged dude who realizes he has no male friends to be the best man at his wedding. He finds a potential candidate in the form of Jason Segel, who’s had great recent success as a free-spirited, big-hearted slob (the trailer includes a gag where he refuses to clean up his dog’s feces, and gets up in the face of anyone who wants him to do otherwise). Plus, Rudd and Segel may have different personas, but they’ve both honed their improvisational chops in the working in the Judd Apatow comedy coalmines (they worked together a little bit in last year’s “Forgetting Sarah Marshall”). The results should be nothing less than brobust.

Bill Hader and Kristen Wiig in “Adventureland”
Directed by Greg Mottola
Opens March 27

Bill Hader and Kristen Wiig’s mere presence in “Adventureland” is intriguing. But to then learn that they were given a hand in shaping their characters by writer/director Greg Mottola, makes their contributions even more enticing. Hader, who worked with Mottola on “Superbad,” and Wiig play Bobby and Paulette, the less-than-qualified proprietors of the titular amusement park where Jesse Eisenberg spends his first post-collegiate summer. Once they were cast, Mottola, Hader, and Wiig worked together to refine the characters, who were initially written as more adversarial and wound up more loving-but-touched-in-the-head. They also brought their own unique spin to inspired bits like Hader’s maniacal horse race call (“YOU REALLY GOT IT GOING ON! YOU GOT IT!!”) and Wiig’s admiring response, “This is how we met.” Kudos also to Hader for our most eagerly anticipated moustache of the spring. That thing is absurdly bushy. It looks like someone spirit gummed a carpet sample to his upper lip.

Algenis Perez Soto in “Sugar”
Directed by Anna Boden and Ryan Fleck
Opens April 3

There is the only untrained, first-time actor on this list and he appears here because he’s working with directors Anna Boden and Ryan Fleck. If you saw their last feature, 2006′s “Half Nelson,” then you know how good they are not only with actors, but non-professional actors. Shareeka Epps had never appeared in a movie before Boden and Fleck put her in their short film “Gowanus, Brooklyn;” her moving performance in “Half Nelson” netted her a Gotham Award and a Spirit Award. The star making his debut in this case is Algenis Perez Soto, a former baseball player that Fleck and Boden discovered while traveling through the Dominican Republic to research their story of a Latin American pitching prospect who gets shipped off to the majors after he develops a killer curveball. Talk about getting called up to the big leagues; the duo told the BFI that Soto had “never even thought about” acting before, but they got him into the proper mindset by giving him movies like “Taxi Driver” to study.

Anna Faris in “Observe and Report”
Directed by Jody Hill
Opens April 10

We’ve made our high opinion of Anna Faris quite clear here at IFC.com in recent months, following her enviable run of brilliantly stupid lead turns in films like “Smiley Face” and “The House Bunny.” Simply put, Faris is the rare actress we’d follow into any project no matter how dismal it might sound. Lucky for us then that she’ll next be seen in a project that looks as promising as Jody Hill’s follow-up to “The Foot Fist Way,” “Observe and Report.” Based on the trailer, it appears that Seth Rogen stars as a deranged, obsessive mall cop, with Faris playing the Betsy to his Travis Bickle. The role, which calls for plenty of binge drinking, puke jokes, and awkward sex with Rogen, looks to offer that irresistible combination of fearlessness and shamelessness found in all of Faris’ best performances. Plus, in Rogen, she’s got a co-star who can actually match her comedic chops, something in short supply even in her funniest movies. In other words, we can’t wait. You had us at puke jokes, Anna.

Jason Statham in “Crank 2: High Voltage”
Directed by Neveldine/Taylor
Opens April 17

And finally a haiku about Jason Statham’s return as Chev Chelios in the sequel “Crank: High Voltage”:

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