新郎上错床 A Guy Thing review by TOR THORSEN 英语影评

新郎上错床，A Guy Thing

Jason Lee has come full circle. He got his start playing a lovelorn sad-sack in Kevin Smith's sophomore slump-fest Mallrats shortly before becoming one of Hollywood's most sought-after second bananas. Now he's back playing the put-upon romantic in A Guy Thing, his second starring role in a row. While not as disastrous as his previous effort, the comedic train-wreck Stealing Harvard, A Guy Thing is no classic. However, the collective charms of both Lee and his love interest, Julia Stiles, make the film an often-pleasant distraction, overcoming a clunky plot and co-star Selma Blair's annoying performance.

 

A Guy Thing opens at the bachelor party of one Paul Morse (Lee). Since he's a relatively nice fellow, it's a pretty tame affair, free of drugs, strippers, porn, or prostitutes. Just a lot of fruity tropical drinks and a few tiki dancers. After toasting the "three rings of marriage" — "the engagement ring, the wedding ring, and the suffering" — Paul innocently strikes up a conversation with one of the grass-skirted beauties, an animal-loving ingenue named Becky (Stiles).

 

As with many a mai-tai bender, the rest of the night might as well have a "scene missing" sign hanging on it. Cut to the next morning, where Paul wakes up to his fiancée, Karen (Blair), about to knock on his door … and Becky still in his bed. After some quick Three's Company-like shuffling, Becky leaves, undetected. However, Paul needs some of the lice-shampoo Rid® for what he discovers next — a scorching case of crabs which he has to nix just days before his wedding night. And the unfortunate groom-to-be could probably use a gallon of piña coladas after he meets Karen's favorite cousin — a tiki dancer named Becky.  www.130q.com

 

After the shock wears off, the source of the pesky dermis vermin is located, and it's established that Paul and Becky did not actucally have , A Guy Thing slouches into a second-rate combination of Meet the Parents and 40 Days and 40 Nights. Director Chris Koch does a fair job of keeping all the narrative balls in the air, but is hampered by the hodgepodge of a script, written by Greg Glienna, Pete Schwaba, Matt Tarses, and Bill Wrubel. There are plenty of comic moments, some funny (an excruciating sequence at the pharmacy), some so-so (a perpetually drunk Irish grandmother-in-law), and some just plain lame (a homicidal ex-boyfriend who harbors more love for his own pectorals than any human being). Matters aren't helped by Blair's shrill performance — which isn't all her fault, since the harpy-ish Karen is written more thinly than the actress' 20-inch waistline. (Hey, you'd lose your appetite, too, if you were dating Jason Schwartzman.)

 

Luckily, Stiles and Lee's chemistry cancels out many of A Guy Thing's negative elements. Although her reckless lust for life is a tad overdone — one daredevil stunt down a hill seems more suicidal than vivacious — Stiles' Becky would make any male primate with a pulse think twice about vows of lifetime fidelity. Despite an 11-year age difference, Lee is the perfect foil for Stiles, oozing anxiety at her dangerous antics while simultaneously falling head over heels for her (sometimes literally). This film may not be the best showcase for his talents, but it's not the worst either.

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