The Good Guy

Starring: Alexis Bleidel, Scott Porter, Bryan Greenberg, Anna Chlumsky, Andrew McCarthy, Adrian Martinez, Aaron Yoo
Directed by: Julio DePietro
Rating: R
Genre: Comedy, Romance
2009

Times Seen:
Tim: 1

Summary: A Manhattan woman (Alexis Bleidel) struggles between her boyfriend (Scott Porter) and his coworker (Bryan Greenberg).

Review:

Tim: The Good Guy is a completely forgettable, weak little romantic comedy. It's the type of film that never finds an audience, partly because it doesn't have the backing of the big Hollywood studios, and partly because it's not all that good to begin with. This isn't a terrible movie, it's just an amateurish effort. It really should be a romantic drama, because there's not a great deal of comedy in it. This is the kind of film that doesn't make you happy or upset, it only generates a shrug as it disappears from your memory.

This film was released in only 9 theaters, so it's no surprise it barely cracked $100,000 at the box office. This was never going to be anything lasting or memorable. The film reportedly cost about $10 million to make, so as you can see, it was a pretty poor investment. This isn't a terrible movie, but it offers nothing to set it apart. It's a film that mostly plays it safe, plays it by-the-numbers. It's the kind of film C-level talent makes, and A-level talent would never even consider making. There's far too many of these movies every year.

The cast is average. Alexis Bleidel is an average actress and she gives an average performance. I suppose I sympathized with her slightly, but that's about it. Scott Porter did a good job of playing an unlikable sleazebag, and it was fun to watch him play a role that seemingly came natural to him. Bryan Greenberg was fine as the dopey guy with a heart of gold. They form this little love triangle and it all plays out exactly as you would expect. I liked seeing Anna Chlumsky here, just because I appreciate the fact that she has work. She doesn't have a chance to do anything of value, though.

I really feel like there are thousands of these kinds of movies out there- a 90 minute romantic dramedy featuring C-list actors with a C-list script by an inexperienced director (in this case, a guy making his directorial debut). There's nothing especially bad about this, but it's not a movie that has anything especially attractive about it. It's a film that few people will ever see, unless they're bored one Saturday night and nothing else calls to them from their Netflix queue. If you like romantic comedies, there's nothing here that you will hate, but I'd be surprised if you thoroughly enjoyed it, either.

Rating 1-10
Tim's Rating- 6


If You Enjoyed This Movie, We Recommend: The Good Girl