I admit this movie is silly, unnecessary, and throwaway. I still laughed in a lot of places. I also groaned in a few places too. Example: When Paul Coleman (Jason Lee) found Becky's (Julia Stiles) panties when his fiance was on the way over, he searched all over the apartment for a place to hide them, ultimately hiding them in the toilet. You knew what was going to happen, and what did happen. Also, there was a running joke about pictures of Becky and Paul, which we never got to see, being found by a minister's son, who also happened to live in the same apartment building. The son kept finding the pictures and the minister kept bringing them back. *sigh*.

The tale is a bit hackneyed as well. Girl and guy are prepared to be married, seemingly the perfect couple. Guy meets another girl, girl meets another guy, everyone wonders what's wrong with this picture; guess how it all turns out? SURPRISE!!! NOT!!!

In spite of a re-tread plot, and in spite of the groans, there were places that this movie was creative and humorous; not many, but enough that I felt that watching the movie wasn't a complete waste of time. I felt a bit guilty watching this movie because I knew the premise had been done (and done, and done), and many of the jokes were weak, and yet, I like the movie. I think that one thing that really saved this movie was Julia Stiles. She really is not centrally involved in all the happenings, occasionally appearing aloof, and she manages to escape this movie leaving everyone watching with a positive impression. Julia saves this movie from being a waste of time. I look for Julia to get better parts and bigger roles in the future.

I won't go so far out on the limb as to give this movie any more than 3 stars (and perhaps a low three at that). Watch the movie for the interaction of everyone with Julia Stiles, and accept the groans as payment for watching those interactions.


A Groan Thing   April 14, 2005
R. L. Gross (Glen Ellyn)
3 out of 3 found this review helpful

We saw the trailer for this movie on another DVD rental and it looked like it was going to be a great comedy. Unfortunately the trailer contains all of the laughs. The guy who edited the trailer deserves an Oscar and then be shot. We wanted to like this one. We tried twice make it through the whole movie and couldn't make it either time. It was that bad. No it was worse. The lead actor is so over the top and stupid that he rendered the movie unwatchable all by himself. I can't imagine what James Brolin had to say to Barbara when he screened this one for her. Hopefully the paycheck was really big. Other than Stiles we have to say: Terrible acting - Awful Script - Insipid Humor. What a disappointment!


A Very Bad "Thing"   January 21, 2003
3 out of 3 found this review helpful

"A Guy Thing" is a sometimes funny, often tense comedy about everything going wrong with a soon-to-be wedded groom named Paul (Jason Lee).

The nightmares begin when Paul wakes up the morning after a wild bachelor party, sleeping next to a gorgeous dancer named Becky (Julia Stiles), with absolutely no memory of the night before. Paul warily tries to cover this up from his "big bucks" fiancee Karen (Selma Blair) and her loaded parents (James Brolin and Diana Scarwid). The dilemma becomes even more complicated when Paul discovers that Becky is his fiancee's cousin. Paul's trusted pal Jim (Shawn Hatosy) aids him through the crisis.

The movie was directed by Chris Koch ("Snow Day") and written by Greg Glienna ("Meet the Parents") and it infrequently has jokes that have stolen some of the qualities used in "Meet the Parents". But I can assure you that it isn't even half as exciting as "Meet the Parents".

In Paul's case, his control happens to be quite an act considering the fact that he must: hide Becky's thong in a toilet tank, pretend to have diarrhea while escaping from a second floor bathroom window, recover pornographic surveillance photos from an nosy minister, hide from the jealous fiancee's attack dog and handle a serious case of crab lice during an executive board meeting. But Lee does provide some funny lines, because acting seems to come natural to him. We noticed that when he performed his breakout role in the critically acclaimed film, "Almost Famous", in which Jason Lee played the lead singer of a 1970's rock band called Stillwater.

It is dreadfully hard to believe that it took 4 writers to create such an in elaborate piece of ... film. And I must say that there is a very small amount of humor or creativity shown to us in the audience, and yes I am speaking for everyone. This unexpectedly has gone on my "Worst Films" list. It will be added right under "Battlefield Earth". This really is not a "guy thing". It's more or less a "thing" that should have never become a "thing". "A Guy Thing" is one of the worst films of this year and might you remember that the year has just started.


Surprisingly fun romantic comedy   August 13, 2005
Mark Carter (amarillo)
2 out of 2 found this review helpful

Surprisingly fun romantic comedy. Not a lot of "fall out of your chair" comedy here, but it's consistent and fun. The soundtrack is awesome, rather than go to big names for music, they use "bar band" music to create the moods for the movie, it surprisingly works well, and adds to the goofy awkward feeling of the movie. Terrific likable characters that you can relate to, I'm always saying to myself, "That reminds me of this guy I know", or "Yea, that would suck if it happened to me".

Bottom Line:
I can't help it, I like this movie. Maybe it's a "Guy Thing".



Desperately unfunny and derivative of better movies...   December 24, 2003
Laurel962 (Cleveland, Ohio)
2 out of 2 found this review helpful

Warmed-over "nothing". Obviously the screenwriter and director have seen "Four Weddings and a Funeral", as well as a bunch of other gen-x comedies of the last decade. The type of movie where the hero is constantly placed in "embarrassing" situations, and all the humor is derived from his discomfort. Several good actors are utterly wasted here -- why would lovely talented Julia Stiles have ever considered this part? She won't suffer any long term harm, but it hardly counts as a career move. Jason Lee gets less interesting with every movie he makes, and Selma Blair has done this identical part --- the prim yuppie girl who gets dumped for the blond heroine -- more than a few times, especially in "Legally Blonde."

There isn't a legitimate laugh in this entire boring movie, and Stiles and Lee have literally NO chemistry together...when they kiss at the end, it's like watching two cousins buss each other at a family picnic. Unsexy, unromantic, unfunny. DO NOT BOTHER to watch or rent this...you have better things to do.