Movie Review: A Guy Thing

A Guy Thing (2002) 

Directed by Chris Koch 

Written by Greg Glienna 

Starring Jason Lee, Julia Stiles, James Brolin, Selma Blair, Shawn Hatosy 

Release Date January 17th, 2002 

Published January 16th, 2002 

Recently, I have been reading about the Auteur Theory, an idea first championed by European filmmakers in the 1960's which caught on here in the States through the writings of critic Andrew Sarris. The theory postulates that the director is the creative force in the movie-making process; that the script is nothing until the director gives it light and imagery. Essentially, a director gives life to a script. According to this theory, a true auteur/filmmaker can take a lifeless, innocuous script and pair it with awe-inspiring imagery and performance to create a masterpiece. After seeing the film A Guy Thing, it's safe to say director Chris Koch is no auteur, as he takes a lifeless and innocuous script and makes a lifeless, innocuous film.

Jason Lee stars as Paul Morse, a soon-to-be-married schlep who isn't enjoying his bachelor party. Not wanting to take part in the debauchery, Paul allows his best man (played by Shawn Hatosy) to pretend he is the groom-to-be so the strippers will give him their full attention. One of the strippers is Becky, played by Julia Stiles, and she is awful at her job. Becky is not a good dancer and really doesn't care. She takes an immediate liking to Paul, not knowing that he is the groom.

The next morning, Paul awakens to a phone call from his mother-in-law, informing him that his wife-to-be is on her way to his apartment. This would not be a problem except that Becky is in Paul's bed. This encounter leads to a series of wacky episodes involving mistaken identities, crazed ex-boyfriends and various misunderstandings that are staples of the romantic comedy genre. A Guy Thing isn't a bad film. It has moments that are honestly funny; however, it is also clichéd and too often dull. Lee, one of my favorite actors, mugs and preens and does everything he can with the limited material he is given. Stiles remains one of the most appealing actresses of her generation as she makes her way through the film on her wits and charm, barely sidestepping the script's many pitfalls.

The main problem with the film is Koch and his inability to bring life to the film. Almost any director can bring a literal translation of a script to the screen, but it takes an artist to make that lifeless script a film. Even if that script has so little originality can, with the steady hand and eye of a great director, can be entertaining. Koch, however, directs A Guy Thing with a simple point-and-shoot style that takes the scripted page and translates it directly on to the screen. If you are going to do that, you may as well film the actors simply reading the script.

Koch is not a bad director. He is technically sound. He simply needs to develop a style of his own. Koch needs to learn to trust his own instincts instead of taking a script from the producers and translating it directly to the screen with no style or substance.

Movie Review Soldier's Girl

Soldier's Girl (2003) 

Directed by Frank Pierson 

Written by Ron Nyswaner 

Starring Troy Garity, Lee Pace, Shawn Hatosy 

Release Date May 31st, 2003 

Published January 21st to coincide with Sundance Film Festival debut

"Based On A True Story" does not induce the confidence in the moviegoer that it used to. More often in modern Hollywood the "true story" is merely a skeleton from which to hang melodrama and conjecture. Some, not as many as in the past, are honest attempts to retell history and the Showtime television original picture Soldier’s Girl seems to fall into that category. It's not a perfect retelling of the tragic relationship between a closeted Army Private and a transgender club performer but it is effective in communicating some of the emotion of the tragedy.

In 1999, PFC. Barry Winchell was asleep in the hallway of his army barracks when a fellow soldier, a troubled seventeen-year-old kid on a drinking binge, took a bat and beat Winchell to death. Another soldier who spread rumors that Barry was gay put up the kid to it. Troy Garity (Barbershop) stars in the retelling of the events that lead to the death of Barry Winchell, including his doomed affair with Calpernia Addams (Lee Pace).

Calpernia used to be a young male marine before she began taking hormones to become a woman. A very attractive woman. So attractive that when she first met Barry Winchell, the young Private wasn't sure if she was really a man or a woman. They met when Barry accompanied some friends to a drag club just a few miles from their base, Fort Campbell in Kentucky. Why a group of army guys would go to a drag club is anyone's guess and the movie provides no motivations. This begins a tentative, sweet and unusual relationship, also a dangerous one as history tells us.

Garity and Pace have a terrific romantic chemistry. In a pair of difficult roles, these two very talented actors shine with two complex and fascinating performances. It's tempting to call them brave but we should be beyond the time when portraying relationships such as this is considered brave. Then again, we probably aren't that far along. The performances are magnetic despite the rather mundane surroundings. Director Frank Pierson and writer Ron Niswaner, both veterans of TV movies, can't seem to escape the melodramatic trappings of TV movie conventions. The romantic situations are rather tepid as written. Thankfully, Garity and Pace give them life.

For your information, Lee Pace is a man. The actor underwent four hours a day of makeup work to develop his breasts and feminize his facial features. It's an amazing transformation that will have men who aren't comfortable with their sexuality squirming in their seats. It's impossible to deny Pace makes a very attractive woman. The makeup artists deserve some accolades for their terrific work.

Shawn Hatosy has the film’s third lead performance as PFC Justin Fischer, the friend whose rumors lead to Barry Winchell's death. It was Fischer who gave the alcohol to seventeen year old Private Calvin Glover (Phillip Eddols). It was Fischer who gave Glover the bat that was used in the attack and Fischer who challenged Glover to take back his manhood. Fischer can't be entirely blamed for what happened, he had no idea that Glover would go through with it. Fischer essentially loaded the gun and Glover went off.

Soldier’s Girl is quite reminiscent of Boys Don't Cry, the "true story" of Brandon Teena that won an Academy Award for Hillary Swank. This film isn't nearly as accomplished, it's too wrapped in conventional TV-movie storytelling to reach the same level of compelling drama. Soldier’s Girl is however almost as heartbreaking because Garity and Pace are so good. The relationship is so well played by these two terrific actors that you can forgive the film’s repetitions, stops, starts and lack of style. The actors make you feel the weight of the tragic end of the film.