- - - -
FILM: A GUY
THING
BY JACOB ZHIVOV
August 28, 2003
- - - -
JACOB ZHIVOV
When Paul Coleman (Jason Lee) wakes up the morning after
his bachelor party in bed with a strange woman named Becky (Julia
Stiles), he presumes he must have cheated on his fiancée, Karen
(Selma Blair). Guilt leads him to try to cover it up in the week before
the wedding and hijinks ensue.
This film is quite amusing and Lee is excellent as the
confused and groom trying to not lie to his fiancée but yet
end up having to. The bits where we see Paul thinking about the possible
ramifications of being honest with Karen are quite funny.
Jason Lee is best known for his roles in Kevin Smith
films, especially for his supporting roles in Mallrats and Chasing
Amy. It does scare me however, that Lee isn't a big enough star for
studios to put him in good films like the upcoming Fletch Won. They
do however, put him in formulaic romantic comedies, and that what
we got here.
DAVID BLUMENSTEIN
Jake has allowed me to come in at this point and mention
how it's too bad that Jason Lee won't be playing Fletch. As somebody,
and more importantly, as somebody who has read all the Fletch books,
I can tell you that Lee would be good as Fletch, even if he is too
old for the part (Fletch Won is the story of how Fletch breaks his
first big story, and as far as I can tell, the character is in his
early twenties, fair-haired and looks young for his age).
But the mythical Harvey Weinstein (to whom Jake insists
he is related in some distant way) wants a STARR (that's emphasis,
not Ringo) to play Fletch, so word
is that Kevin Smith is considering Ben Affleck, Jimmy Fallon,
Brad Pitt, Adam Sandler or Will Smith as replacements.
Come on! They're ALL too old (BRAD PITT is 57 YEARS
OLD! I SWEAR TO GOD), some are hams and one has too big a chin. Doesn't
Smith realise he has a much better Fletch right under his nose? One
who's been in one of his films? One who's a STARR?
THE DAWSON!
THE DAWSON (otherwise known as James Van Der Beek) is
the right age, the right physical type and we know from JAY &
SILENT BOB STRIKE BACK and THE RULES
OF ATTRACTION that he can handle both comedy and acting like an
arrogant creep (Fletch does not act like an arrogant creep, but good
arrogant creep acting is nevertheless a notable skill).
I suggest casting THE DAWSON as Fletch. If it goes horribly
wrong, I'll take responsibility.
A GUY THING is rated M, runs 101 minutes and has a
crappy poster, even though Julia Stiles is on it. It stars Jason Lee,
Julia Stiles and Selma Blair.
