Written by Greg Glienna, who also put Ben Stiller through some
pre-marital dilemmas in Meet The Parents, A Guy Thing is a comedy
that misfires from start to finish, largely because it consistently
squanders the comic potential of its scenarios.
Chris Koch's direction feels laboured and routine, frequently
flogging the jokes until they are practically dead, while several
of the support players - most notably Becky’s jealous ex-boyfriend
- simply aren’t funny.
And while the title of the movie purports to be all about guys
and their inability to ‘handle’ relationships/responsibility,
there is precious little of the rowdy, laddish behaviour that
the name suggests, rendering it more of a chick flick than a
guy thing.
All of which leaves Lee and co with a tremendous amount to
do.
It is a tribute, therefore, to the aforementioned personality
of the star that he almost pulls it off, making his relationship
with the equally delightful Stiles something that is genuinely
worth rooting for, while providing the movie with a rom-com
quality that it doesn’t automatically warrant. The scenes
between the two deserve a better movie.
It remains to be seen whether Lee will be afforded the luxury
of continuing to headline films, given that A Guy Thing flopped
in America, and was followed by the dismal Stealing Harvard
and the disappointing Dreamcatcher.
But, as his character in Vanilla Sky tells Cruise at one stage,
'without the bitter baby, the sweet aint as sweet'.
Let us hope that the ‘sweet’ period is still allowed
to come.
