A Guy Thing

Paul Coleman is a week away from marrying Karen when he wakes up next to a dancer he met at his stag do. He quickly ushers her out of the flat and hopes never to see her again. Sadly it is a matter of hours before he is introduced to her again as Karen's cousin Becky. Paul tries to make it to his wedding day without Karen finding out – an aim that is made more difficult by Becky's crazy ex-boyfriend, overzealous police and the complex web of lies Paul spins to cover himself.

On paper this film sounds awful and indeed almost every second of it is teetering on the edge of being an awful romantic comedy that goes just where you expect it to. The plot is simply daft – one contrived set piece after another that is increasingly stretched as the film goes on. It ends in just the way you know it will (despite how much I hoped it wouldn't or failed to see how it could) and it will infuriate many in regards just how silly it is.

However it is funny enough to cover the cracks. Much of the humour is instantly recognisable and made up of well known routines (Paul climbing out of the bathroom window) or physical comedy (some pratfalls along the way). Happily there is plenty of slightly off the wall humour that, although not new, is quite good. An example would be the `fantasy sequences' but my favourite bit is Paul sweet memories of a male dance teacher. The whole thing is very silly and you should prepare yourself for that, but it does just about have enough silly laughs to keep it going.

For me the number one reason I enjoyed this film was the performance of Jason Lee. At no point does he suggest that this is a serious film, in fact many times a silly scene was saved by the `what the f is going on' look on his face – a hint to us that he is in the film and he can't believe what's happening, so the audience should go with him. For the rest of the time he lends himself really easily to the type of humour and is able to raise the material a bit. He is a good lead here and keeps bits of his `Brody' from Mallrats to good effect. Stiles is awful in my opinion. She doesn't really act and seems to be trying too hard to do `kooky' – it doesn't work. She has so little screentime that I found it very hard to accept that Paul would get anything from her. Blair has a thankless role and she doesn't quite carry it off – like Stiles I felt that she was trying too hard and almost came across as a caricature. Maybe they were both led by Lee's knowing performance and responded in a bad way. Larry Miller is quite funny (but predictable) as the minister next door and Brolin is a surprising find as the father in law.

Overall this is a very silly film, based on one daft scene after another that leads to a predictable ending that simply doesn't make sense even using the logic of this type of film. However it is funny and a great performance by Jason Lee makes it more enjoyable than it probably should be.

Typical chick flick that should be enjoyed only by teens. There is not much to comment about this effort that could easily pass as a b-movie effort.

The plot tries to be different from some other efforts of it's time but to be honest I didn't think it was a genre definer or a movie that should be kept in order to show it to anyone else!.

The acting by Julia Stiles is wooden but it helps that she's pretty. Selma Blair is sexy as always but her character didn't help that much. Jason Lee always works for these kind of movies but the plot didn't help him either.

So there you go, this is a mildly-entertaining, not clever or witty, but "ok-time killer" for those who enjoy regular almost mediocre romantic comedies.

Watch it only if it airs on cable. I did that! I didn't spend a single dollar on it and I'm proud about it.

Can Jason Lee ever make a movie and be bad in it? I love him. He is one of the most talented actors out there today and I think he should receive so much more credit for his work than he does. Julia Stiles is clever in the movie and better than she was in some of the other roles she's received lately but, no one compares to Selma Blair in the film. She's by far and away the best character and actor in the movie. She is such a talent and as much as I love Lee, she in some ways surpasses him this film.

Basic Plot: What would you do if the morning after your bachelor party, you woke up with a cute blond in your bed, and she's not your fiance? Well, if you were Jason Lee's character, you would probably hide her underwear that she left in your apartment in the toilet bowel, right before your fiance comes over that morning.

This is just one of the few misfortunes, Lee runs into in the film. Full of chaos and one wrong lie and mistake after the other, he falls into something much deeper than he had anticipated, possibly even love...

A great film, and really funny. One of the few comedies that you're willing to watch again only a little while after you've seen it.

I give it a 7 out of 10. Not the funniest, but better than a lot of the crud that's out there right now.

And that's my review.

Maybe this is every man's dream? To have a one night drunken fling with your fiancé's cousin? Or so you think. Turns out, it becomes a headache to keep it concealed for long.

Enter panties left at the scene of the crime and everything just snowballs. From enraged police officers to wearing a wire for the FBI to bust such an officer, the movie takes one problem and turns it into multiple ones for the main character.

Like many 90s films of this genre, however, this one also has a happy ending. Sort of. But this one is unique that it has two love triangles in one. But I guess I am happy everybody else was happy.

Overall, the laughs were fairly good. So if you have a little time to kill, this will do the trick. "C+"

A GUY THING is one of those rare romantic comedies that is romantic and cute without being overly sappy. At the same time, it manages to provide every scene with the kind great lines and witty humor that just aren't found in very many movies these days. Despite the mediocre trailer, every scene of this movie is absolutely hilarious [and judging by the amount of laughter in the audience, I'm not the only one that thinks so]. Even though the plot may be predictable and the movie starts off a little slow, but overall it's still a great movie that will hopefully be successful at the box office. However, box office success doesn't seem likely for this film because let's face it, movies released in January are only in theaters for a few weeks. And although it is only January, A GUY THING is going to end up on my list of the best movies of 2003 at the end of the year. Highly recommended.