January 17, 2003<\/span> |<\/strong>\u00a0A Guy Thing<\/em> is a good movie that occasionally appears poised to turn into something better, or at least edgier. Here and there amid the lightly amusing fluff, you will find an unexpected quirk, a perversely amusing flourish, or a totally twisted supporting character. Indeed, there are times when you may almost wish the producers has entrusted the project to co-directors Bobby and Peter Farrelly, to fully maximize the mondo-bizarro subtext.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n Even so, there\u2019s no denying that the guy who was hired, director Chris Koch (Snow Day<\/em>), gets appealing performance from his leads, and colorful turns from his supporting players. Just as important, Koch also hits almost all of the right notes, and very few of the wrong ones, while maneuvering through the tricky stretches where his largely traditional romantic comedy briefly detours into oddball absurdity.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n If you\u2019re looking for an actor who looks like a standard-issue romantic lead, but often hints at inner wild-and-craziness, you can\u2019t do much better than Jason Lee. The appealingly off-centered actor is exceptionally well cast as Paul, an advertising executive who\u2019s ready to marry his boss\u2019 daughter in just a few days. But on the night of his bachelor party at a Hawaii-themed lounge, Becky (Julia Stiles), a novice hula dancer, literally stumbles into him at the bar. One thing leads to another \u2013 but maybe not as many others as we might think \u2013 and Paul wakes up the next morning with Becky lying asleep in his bed next to him.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n Paul panics, and with good reason: Karen (Selma Blair), his beautiful yet hopelessly conventional fianc\u00e9e, is moments away from dropping by to discuss their wedding arrangements. So Paul unceremoniously shoos Becky out of his apartment \u2013 who, all things considered, is a good sport about being shooed \u2013 and assumes that will be the last he ever hears of this one-night stand.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n Of course, there would be no movie if he were right, so he\u2019s wrong.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n Sure enough, Paul can\u2019t keep from running into Becky. First, he spots her on the highway, working as a toll collector. (In the world according to romantic comedies, one\u2019s inability to keep any job for very long is empirical proof of free-spirited nonconformity.) Then he sees her, and she sees him, in the elegant home of Karen\u2019s parents. That\u2019s because \u2013 yes, you guessed it! \u2013 Becky just happens to be Karen\u2019s cousin.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n So far, so predictable \u2013 right? Truth to tell, A Guy Thing<\/em> earns relatively few points for the originality of its plot. But it amply increases the amusement quotient by periodically adding new characters to the mix. For instance, there\u2019s Ray (Lochlyn Monro), Becky\u2019s psychotically possessive ex-boyfriend, a steroid-raging supercop who\u2019s willing to plant evidence on romantic rivals. There\u2019s Buck (David Koechner), Paul\u2019s rowdy stepfather, a good-ol\u2019-boy who worships John Wayne almost as much as he loves Paul\u2019s mom (Julie Haggerty). And there\u2019s Pete (Thomas Lennon), Paul\u2019s brother, who does a lousy job of disguising his longtime crush on Karen.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n But wait, there\u2019s more: A boozy grand-aunt, a suspected mugger, a sympathetic salesclerk, a rotund yet graceful dance instructor, a pharmacist who uses a very special secret ingredient when he moonlights as a caterer \u2013 and a disapproving minister (an unbilled, scene-stealing Larry Miller) with little regard for his neighbor, a suspicious young man who shoos novice hula dancers out of his apartment.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n There\u2019s so much going on with so many people \u2013 the supporting cast also includes James Brolin and Diana Scarwid as Karen\u2019s uptight parents, and Shawn Hatosy as Pete\u2019s best friend \u2013 that, inevitably, a few folks get lost in the shuffle. Blair doesn\u2019t have much opportunity to flesh out a thinly written role. And even Stiles, one of the most promising actresses of her generation, is seriously short-changed. The movie is supposed to pivot on Becky\u2019s irresistibly kooky charm, and her ability to lure dutiful Paul away from the sane and sane path. But we have to take that irresistible largely charm on faith, because the movie certainly doesn\u2019t give Stiles sufficient time to work her magic on screen.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n Still, the movie does manage to offer some clever variations on its central running gag: Guys will instinctively cover for other guys, and forgive a guy for acting like a guy, because every guy knows every other guy can\u2019t help acting like a guy. That may not make A Guy Thing<\/em> a good date movie, however. Perhaps it\u2019s best appreciated by groups of guys who wants to celebrate their guyness, and groups of gals who want to know how guys really behave.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n <\/body><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" January 17, 2003 |\u00a0A Guy Thing is a good movie that occasionally appears poised to turn into something better, or at least edgier. 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