The Good Guy

"The Good Guy" is a relationship drama. You would be forgiven if you assumed it was yet another twenty-something girl trying to sort out her love life and career in a romantic comedy. You would be forgiven for thinking that, but you would also be wrong. It's actually better than that.

The film is driven by three characters, all of them completely fleshed-out and three-dimensional. Not one of them is central, but all of them individually and triangularly. The film continuously surprises in very subtle ways. The characters are better written than first appears, and even when the film tells you the characters will surprise you, it still comes as a surprise.

I was expecting a film about Beth - a very standard, trying to find herself story. What makes it better than that is the fact that it's a drama - I am hard-pressed to name a similar film without comedy undertones or overtones. This is a drama - dark and sombre.

"The Good Guy" may not be for everybody but it is a good twenty-somethings relationship story told through drama instead of comedy. In the film, Beth complains about a novel that she read where half-way through the narrator turns out to be unreliable. "What's the point of that?" she asks. Daniel responds "Well isn't that life? It surprises you." Indeed it does. "The Good Guy" may be just like life, dramatic, and it surprises you.

The film had its ups and downs and wasn't a smooth enjoyable ride. I liked the three main central characters, particularly Daniel and Tommy whose characters were fleshed out well by the actors. The plot was likable and explored a young woman's journey trying to create a 'good' life for herself.

I was let down by Alexis Bledel though who I felt didn't get into the character enough for me to connect with her. I am a huge fan of Gilmore Girls and she grew on me over the seasons, but this film could have gone a bit further if she had delved more into the role and let the audience in.

Not bad work from the other two mains and nicely shot - some good visuals. Watch it if you're interested in the premise of the story and for a decent exploration of a relatable story from three different perspectives. Don't expect ground breaking performances.

Julio DePietro's 'The Good Guy' tries to combine the romantic genre and buddy flick genre. It does use a lot of clichés. The story is quite predictable in the first hour and then there are some interesting subtle twists that unfold well during the final half hour. I liked how the director mislead the viewer into thinking one thing while they turned out to be something else. I felt the ending was a copout and a little too convenient as I would have preferred something darker.

While the characters are well developed, they are clichéd, especially the Daniel character who happens to be the ideal guy (his favourite book is 'Pride and Prejudice', he was in the army but he is gentle, soft-spoken, shy and kind of a pushover etc). The luminous Alexis Bledel is terrific in a role she's familiar with. Although I would like to see her play different characters in her forthcoming movies. Scott Porter is average and Bryan Greenburg is adequate. Anna Chlumsky is wasted.

'The Good Guy' could have benefited more had the clichés been reduced and the story been more layered, complex and dark. It isn't your average date movie as it would appear to be but it's better than that.

During this movie i felt like almost all of the conversations were awkward. Both of beth's relationships didn't feel smooth either. There was barely any scenes with tommy and the same goes to daniel. I don't know when did she even fall in love with him like yes the guy is sweet and all but he is too boring. The movie overall isn't bad I'm just not that crazy about it either.

I love Bryan Greenberg! His characters are always a breath of fresh air for me.

This could have been a much better romcom if they cut a bunch of those boring scenes at Wall Street and if they gave more scenes to Bryan Greenberg (Daniel) also at the beginning of the movie... Scott Porter's character (Tommy) was so not likable that it kinda ruined part of the movie for me.

Some characters were very stereotypical and I feel like some people could get offended by some of those racist jokes nowadays...

And what happened to the colors in the posters?! Those posters make it seem like such a low quality / independent kind of movie! It's the little things in life... Anyone with some photoshop skills could make a better job than that, come on!

Anyway Bryan (Daniel) and Alexis Bledel (Beth) saved the movie for me. Enjoyable romcom overall! I gave it a 7 because I found it a feel-good movie that I would be down to watch again! I might be biased because I love romcoms and I'm a fan of Bryan and Alexis though.