"The Good Guy" was one of the "comedy/romance" films I got myself when, for the first time in my life, I found myself craving a chick flick (which I usually despise) to relieve myself of the stress I've been immersed in lately. To tell the truth, I only chose it for Alexis Bledel (not because I find her a particularly good actress, but because she gives me that cozy familiar feeling that I was looking for) and because the movie poster looked good (now that's a futile reason). Since I looked it up beforehand, I knew it was rated 6.2/10 on IMDb, so my expectations were pretty low -- I tend to be a hard critic. However, I was up for a surprise: to begin with, I got something that could and SHOULD have been labeled as "drama" as well. In fact, "The Good Guy" has very little "comedy" to it, except for the intelligent, well-measured and well-placed jokes that make the film even more enjoyable without detracting from the story's seriousness or credibility.
This film focuses on a very interesting concept that Beth (Alexis Bledel) directly alludes to in a scene where she mentions "The Good Soldier", a book sharing the same basic idea: that we automatically trust a story's narrator out of habit, without taking the time to realize there might be other versions to the events, and that they may not be as innocent as they make themselves look. "The Good Guy" takes on this challenge amazingly well by presenting us with a likable protagonist/narrator (Scott Porter's character, Tommy) that, as the story unfolds, turns out to be (pardon the language) a total jerk, and definitely not trustworthy at all. His betrayal is not only harshly felt by Beth, his girlfriend, but also -- and this is the highly praise-worthy part -- by the viewer, who does not see it coming, partially because the well-constructed events make the "twist" very subtle at first, and partially because, well, he is the narrator, after all! -- this unexpectedness is a lot like what being betrayed in real life actually feels like, and that's why the film becomes so personal, making it even easier to hate Tommy and relate to what Beth is going through. In fact, the story is so well-built that, in the beginning, Beth seems to be the more loose, less trustworthy one, and you expect her to mess up somehow -- until the tables turn and the truth about Tommy is exposed, leaving us, the viewers, with a feeling of having been cheated on by the narrator, who has made fools of us all along, as he has Beth.
In addition to a very original and successfully achieved core concept, "The Good Guy" is composed of decent enough acting and directing (with a few minor mistakes -- but it must be noted that Julio DePietro is a newcomer), is never boring, is funny only when it has to be (and serious most of the time) and does NOT overdo the cheesiness that necessarily derives from its "romance" label: on the contrary, the story and characters feel realistic enough; everything seems "possible", and everyone's actions are justifiable.
All in all, where I expected a light chick flick, I ended up with something much better: a light relationship drama, with some comedy and romance mixed into it. While it is certainly not a great film, The Good Guy is a very enjoyable one with many strong points, and definitely deserves more than the 6.2 IMDb is currently giving it.
This film focuses on a very interesting concept that Beth (Alexis Bledel) directly alludes to in a scene where she mentions "The Good Soldier", a book sharing the same basic idea: that we automatically trust a story's narrator out of habit, without taking the time to realize there might be other versions to the events, and that they may not be as innocent as they make themselves look. "The Good Guy" takes on this challenge amazingly well by presenting us with a likable protagonist/narrator (Scott Porter's character, Tommy) that, as the story unfolds, turns out to be (pardon the language) a total jerk, and definitely not trustworthy at all. His betrayal is not only harshly felt by Beth, his girlfriend, but also -- and this is the highly praise-worthy part -- by the viewer, who does not see it coming, partially because the well-constructed events make the "twist" very subtle at first, and partially because, well, he is the narrator, after all! -- this unexpectedness is a lot like what being betrayed in real life actually feels like, and that's why the film becomes so personal, making it even easier to hate Tommy and relate to what Beth is going through. In fact, the story is so well-built that, in the beginning, Beth seems to be the more loose, less trustworthy one, and you expect her to mess up somehow -- until the tables turn and the truth about Tommy is exposed, leaving us, the viewers, with a feeling of having been cheated on by the narrator, who has made fools of us all along, as he has Beth.
In addition to a very original and successfully achieved core concept, "The Good Guy" is composed of decent enough acting and directing (with a few minor mistakes -- but it must be noted that Julio DePietro is a newcomer), is never boring, is funny only when it has to be (and serious most of the time) and does NOT overdo the cheesiness that necessarily derives from its "romance" label: on the contrary, the story and characters feel realistic enough; everything seems "possible", and everyone's actions are justifiable.
All in all, where I expected a light chick flick, I ended up with something much better: a light relationship drama, with some comedy and romance mixed into it. While it is certainly not a great film, The Good Guy is a very enjoyable one with many strong points, and definitely deserves more than the 6.2 IMDb is currently giving it.