No Topo do Mundo

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!

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.

The establishing shots introduce a seemingly endless and dreary vista, a concept that the film then exploits with poor acting and a mundane story line.

Set on a US Army base in Greenland Saul Metzstein shoehorns in some unsophisticated communist imagery, made more obvious from wooden badly cast characters. The moralising of the story is minimised by the inability to sympathise or engage with the characters.

There is no chemistry between Biggs and McElhone. It seemed unbelievable to me that strong and intelligent Irene Teal would fall so naively for bullying Lane Woolwrap. Unfortunately Biggs will always be the guy who did 'that' to the Apple Pie.

The 'engaging hooks' the film presents are so tedious that once truths are exposed in the final act they create no greater emotional response than disinterest.

"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.