The Good Guy

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.

This film is about a successful young man working in Wall Street. His love life is put into jeopardy when he tries to be helpful by hiring a nerd for his sales team.

"The Good Guy" is an enjoyable and captivating drama about urban lives of young people. It has very good character development. Their work, social and love lives are portrayed in an ordinary and believable manner that makes them so real. They could have been people we know around us, and viewers can relate to them easily. All three lead actors and actresses sculpt their characters in an authentic manner. The way the characters change as the film progresses is also very interesting. This makes the story even more engaging, as viewers are left to wonder what will happen to them.

Was this movie made in 1985? And shouldn't it star Molly Ringwald?

Though set in the present day world of hip, young urbanites, "The Good Guy" is the movie John Hughes might have made if he'd moved his stories of teen angst out of the Chicago suburbs and into the middle of Manhattan. O.k., so the kids in this film are at least five or so years out of their teens, but the kids who starred as the teens in Hughes' films weren't really teens either, so the comparison stands.

Alexis Bledel basically plays Rory Gilmore, picking up her story where the T.V. series "The Gilmore Girls" left off. She's a conscientious young do-gooder with some kind of job having to do with conservation. Her boyfriend is a Wall Street hot shot who only cares about money. Enter Bryan Greenberg, playing the new guy on her boyfriend's team, who thinks he wants to be a Wall Street shark but is far too sensitive and quiet to make it. We know he's meant to be with Bledel, because his favorite book is "Pride and Prejudice" and he's awkward with girls.

"The Good Guy" is almost hopelessly young and hits its notes with all the subtlety of an episode of "Melrose Place." But it has a great message to relate about life priorities, and I found it refreshing for once to find a movie in which the character of the old (32) married guy is the happiest character in the film.

My wife and I did a lot of chuckling at "The Good Guy," but I admit that it won me over. And one wonders if the makers of this movie weren't more aware than I'm giving them credit for of how much it plays like an '80s teeny-bopper film, because there's good old Andrew McCarthy, not playing the dreamy heroes he used to, but rather a foul-mouthed obnoxious boss.

Grade: B+