Guy X

"Sitting on top of the world" "25 Miles" "When the Saints Go Marching In" "War" "Spinning Wheel" "Peer Gynt" "A Fifth of Beethoven" "Action Time Vision" "Louie Louie" "One Mint Julep" "Walk Like a Man" "Lonesome Day"

Interspersed with a Catch 22 environment and a dark secret.

Set in 1979 Corporal Rudy Spruance (Jason Biggs) is inadvertently deposited in a weird out post in Greenland, actually filmed in Snæfellsnes, Iceland. There he learns about edible Puffins and wayward blonds (Natascha McElhone.) Until one day he discovers the true purpose of the base. You will need to watch the movie to find out the secret, what this secret means for Corporal Rudy Spruance and us.

I recently viewed Guy X at the Montreal Film Festival and I was quite impressed. The movie was well done in it's presentation and unique depiction of a troubled war. The only downside was the director's vision of what the film was to be, switching between an army slapstick, like the movie Stripes, and a military mystery, like the movie Basic. I found it left the viewer at times wondering if we are to laugh or to just sit there in silence. On the bright side, the acting was well done. Each actor gave something special to this picture. Jason Biggs showed he can take a step away from his American Pie typecast and really deliver a dramatic performance worth noticing. As well, Sean Tucker added an extremely hilarious comedic injection to this movie. In my opinion, he WAS the comedy in this movie and should be recognized for it. All in all, a well done effort and a movie that should receive the accolades it deserves.

An engaging storyline and suggestions that it is in the mould of Catch 22 or M*A*S*H suggest great things for Guy X. A man is dropped off by plane at a remote army post in Greenland. His identity has changed, there is no way of correcting the records, and no way of getting off the base. He stumbles on something that people would rather keep hidden, and is also attracted to the commanding officer's girlfriend – all of which, together with a very crazy bunch of colleagues, puts him in some quirky and irreverent danger.

Adapted from a well received novel (No One Thinks of Greenland), Guy X should be a resounding success but sadly falls rather short of the mark. Natascha McElhone performs admirably, but her performance is not enough to carry a lacklustre screenplay, fuzzy directing, a miscast leading man (Jason Biggs) and supporting characters with insufficient talent. For American Pie (Biggs' earlier success), such shallow efforts might have been adequate, but Metzstein is clearly trying to make an art-house movie (he said as much at the UK premiere) without the necessary skills. The film lacks pace and is very unengaging. Falling asleep in it seems more interesting than caring about whether characters' identities are being administrated out of existence. By the end of the film you might be holding on to see if there is going to be a final explanation, or you might be past caring whether there is one.

McElhone and her colleagues, in the Q&A at its Edinburgh premiere, waxed lyrical about the book, the themes of isolation, and what it does to people (she seemed more serious about the film than the director or co-stars who mostly just joked). She convinced me there was a good story there, but also that as a talented actress she had nevertheless misplaced her faith in the team to pull it off. There is no more depth apparent to the characters antics than characters from, errr . . . American Pie. If Biggs and Metzstein want to make the jump to serious cinema, they need to go back to school first. With such a finely nuanced story, the lead actor should be able to exhibit a depth of charisma or otherwise maintain interest in a way that goes far beyond the demands of an action flick or lowbrow comedy. A director must convince an audience with sufficient skill and sincerity to get them to work harder than they would for popcorn entertainment. For this viewer at least, such things were not achieved in Guy X.

On the positive side, McElhone is interesting, it was a great idea, and the choice of sets is unusual. If that is enough to get you to spend your money, go for it – otherwise you might want to stay at home until this crew become more mature and deliver the sort of film that many believe they are capable of. Good ideas alone do not a successful piece of cinema make.

I kept expecting a pay-off in this film; it never happened. It never really made any sense. It reminded me of a really bad X-files episode. Even Alien3 was more engaging than this.

However, Natasha McElhorne is hot (as usual) and her femininity is the only thing worth watching in this film. Even Michael Ironside - such a magnetic actor - is underutilized in this film. Otherwise, everyone else seems like they were hung over the day after a frat party with a great deal of drinking.

Sadly, this is not a good movie even though it seems like it ... just ... might ... make it, but doesn't. Maybe it should be redone with different actors and a much different director.

With all due respect for the previous reviewer, it makes no sense to review a film based on that reviewer's perception about what the cast and crew's attitude was like at a screening! I was at the same screening (I think the premiere was the previous night), and you can hardly blame the cast and crew for giving mostly funny answers to the questions - they were asked about whether they had eaten puffin, what it's like to film in Iceland etc, rather than about the film's content (except at the end, when some freaky stalker-type in the front row asked whether the film had any 'hidden messages'!?!).

"Guy X" is a serious film, with a light touch that means that it's unpredictable and non- generic. Some might find the way it moves tonally quite disorientating, but I think that that is what keeps it fresh. On top of that, it's beautifully crafted - only a blind person couldn't find the images arresting.

And, Jason Biggs really puts in a fine performance. Actually, I think he performs really well in "American Pie" too - he's required to do different types of acting in the two films and manages it with flying colours. I read on the internet that he won the Best Actor performance at the festival that the film had its world premiere.

If you want to see something generic, bland and predictable, avoid this film!