There are certain gimmicks used in movies that really should only be reserved for those who are seasoned and confident movie makers. One of those is the "let's reveal the ending at the beginning" gimmick. Basically the filmmaker is betting that everything that will come after the reveal (which basically is a flashback) will be so compelling, it won't matter if the audience already knows what's going to happen. It's risky. And when used by a lesser filmmaker, it's poison. It will kill a film before it even has a chance to breathe. That's exactly what happened with The Good Guy. Here's a film that definitely has it's problems. It's not very well written. It has decent acting performances, but nothing worth writing home about. It has a pretty generic and formulaic plot. But it still had the chance to be somewhat interesting. Had I not known the conclusion, I actually would have been mildly interested in how it was all going to turn out. However, because of the poisonous reveal at the start of the film, there was no real drama involved in any of the major plot points. I never felt sorry for Daniel, because I assumed he was the one wrapping his arms around Beth in the very first scene. I never really hated Tommy because I assumed, from Beth's statement, "I feel sorry for you Tommy...I really do," that he'd done some pretty stupid and crappy things. So by the time the ending of the film got back to the beginning, I actually had a little compassion for Tommy, when what I really should have been thinking was, "Hey pal, you got what you deserved." Was this ever going to be a great film? No. Could it have been a decent one? Maybe. But even if it was going to sink anyway, regardless of the poor film making decision, I'd rather it had sunk on it's own.
Review of The Good Guy
