The Good Guy (2009)

A lot of perfectly good film show their cards early, establish a unique premise and let the audience explore a topic at a leisurely pace, without much in terms of surprise. this film is not one of those films.

This is a coming of age storyline that you've seen in one form or another for decades. It takes a truly unique voice to make yet another one worth watching.

Excellent characters with emotional depth. My wife, daughter and granddaughter all enjoyed it...and me, too! Very good movie! You won't be disappointed.

The film never slows down or bores, plunging from one harrowing sequence to the next.

Huh. I'm surprised this didn't get a better rating. I just watched on netflix and thought it was half decent. The acting, while not Oscar-worthy, was passable and not distractingly bad. The script, while a bit cheesy and clichéd throughout, was also fine. More importantly, I thought the ending twist was quite clever. Yes, as others have pointed out, they flash forward at the beginning of the film gives you some idea that things don't work out well in the end. But it was such a quick comment (I feel sorry for you) that it really didn't cloud the rest of my watching for the next hour. So when the story suddenly shifted and Tommy suddenly starts talking about the long day he spent with another woman, it felt like it was from left field. And then they did a great job quickly shifting the story from the point of view from other women and Tommy's other life. It felt surprisingly like you just learned you'd been duped by a cheating spouse, and had to go back and see how you'd had your rose colored glasses on for the first part of the relationship. Again, not rocket science, but i thought it was clever in a way far surpassing your average rom com.

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.

I've noticed here on IMDb when people review a movie they concentrate on the technicalities too much. which fine, but people like myself don't really care much for that.Anyway, this movie is very enjoyable, especially if you relate to some of the situations mentioned in the movie. Like one of the comments said, don't even try to understand the wall street guys conversations lol.Bryan Greenberg is awesome as he is in one tree hill, although here he plays a guy that doesn't even know how to say a single word to a girl (I think that's enjoyable in itself).Long story short, I liked this movie. I give it 6/10.

The Good Guy stars Alexis Bledel, who is synonymous with "girly". Having a long successful run on Gilmore Girls and starring in The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants it's hard to imagine her starring in a non-chick flick. Of course if Adam Sandler can do "drama", then I wouldn't put it past her. Anyhow, although Alexis dominates half of the movie poster I'd say the movie was less than half about her character, Beth. Beth serves as the center around which Tom (Scott Porter) and Daniel (Bryan Greenberg) are forced to orbit and eventually collide.Tom is a Wall Street champ and Daniel becomes somewhat of a protégé. From fashion tips to stock tips they bond. In a book store, Daniel is coached – more like egged on – to approach a attractive girl, who turns out to be Tom's girlfriend, Beth. Bros before hos? What do you think? The movie has the typical clichés: A "book club", which serves as a female support slash male bashing group and a band of bar-hopping girl-hunting bros. You have your typical run-of-the-mill chick flick situations and resolutions. Not much surprise here. The only surprise is that this isn't much of a romantic comedy, so don't think "at least it might funny". It throws a decent jab, but doesn't finish with a right cross, a uppercut, or even a dirty kick to the groin.Men: Go with low expectations and you won't hate it. Bro-Approved.