A Guy Thing

I happened to watch this movie by chance some days ago while flipping channels. My expectations were not very high but it was an interesting movie.In 'A Guy Thing', Jason Lee plays Paul, a straight-laced, Seattle-based fellow who is about to marry his fiancée Karen (Selma Blair) and settle down to an unchallenging life of middle-class domesticity. We first meet Paul at his bachelor party, where he professes no desire to engage in any of the normal bachelor party type activities his (surprisingly few) buddies encourage, in case he's a bit naughty and gets into hot bother with his soon to be trouble and strife. Of course, the next thing Paul knows, it's the morning after the night before, he's in bed with a naked hula dancer, and his mother-in-law phones to inform him that Karen is on her way over. Oh, and the hula dancer is Karen's cousin Becky (Julia Stiles).

From this small acorn of potential trouble grows a mighty oak of frenetic misfortune, as Paul scrabbles from misadventure to misadventure, trying to cover up what he's done whilst keeping up the appearance of being a dutiful, family-oriented good guy, who's super-excited about his forthcoming nuptials. His efforts to ensure Karen remains none the wiser about any potential wrong-doing on his part ironically forces Paul closer and closer to the fun-loving Becky, forcing him to question whether he really wants the life that seems to have been mapped out for him. The movie contains the right mix of comedy and romance. Definitely worth a watch.

When it comes to mainstream romantic comedies, I try to avoid them as much as I can, but sometimes they are done so well, or dumb that they deserve a viewing. This is the case with the A Guy Thing (I guess it would be called Bro Thing nowadays) directed by Chris Koch ( Scrubs, My Name Is Earl, Snow Day) and starring Jason Lee and Julia Stiles. At its core this is a classic love story where guy realizes that he loves someone else and that besides her he can be himself (wait 'till you start living together and we'll see how that turns out for ya), but there are enough gags and jokes to keep things interesting. Granted there isn't enough R-rated humor or nudity but still Jason Lee makes any movie work. And the fact that they didn't resort to any tricks or overly sappy scenes only works to their benefit.

Paul is getting married and we meet up with him on his bachelor party where he's quite bored and in love with his future wife. Even when the exotic dancers show up he doesn't seem excited, but he will be when he wakes up the next morning with one of them in his bed. Dazed and confused he chucks her out of the apartment since his future wife is arriving in a few minutes, and he's not in the mood for threesome. Thinking that that's that he carries on with his life trying to forget the whole thing but he keeps bumping into that girl. But what is really gonna rock his world is when he finds out that she is Karen's very close cousin and that she's attending the wedding…

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There were times when this movie was absolutely hilarious. Even if most of the funniest lines and situations involved toilets, STDs, or pornography. I don't recommend this for kids.

Paul didn't remind me of Earl Hickey that much of the time, but sometimes his manner of speaking was similar. Paul wasn't that great a character, but he was likable enough.

I didn't care for Karen. She wasn't pretty and had an abrasive personality, and then there was that annoying fake smile. Though on the right woman, her haircut could have been cute.

Becky, on the other hand, was absolutely adorable. Good-looking with a sweet personality, even if she could get riled when she had to. In the first scene where she showed she had a brain, she was justified in not being the cute chick. I knew what I wanted to happen.

There were plenty of good acting performances, considering the material. And while the writing wasn't on an Oscar level, that's not necessary here. It just needed to be funny, which it often was.

I had a bad day--in fact, a bad week--prior to the night this movie aired. But the movie made me feel good, at least while I was watching it. That's the most important thing I can say.

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.

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.