Paul (Jason Lee) is going to be married in a week to the preppy Karen (Selma Blair). Karen also happens (conveniently) to be the daughter of Paul's boss, Ken (James Brolin). Everything seems
made for the movies.
Except Paul has one problem: the night after his bachelor party he wakes up, hung over and in bed next to Becky (Julia Stiles), a dancer from his bachelor party. Paul doesn't remember a thing. Confused and worried, Paul sends Becky on her way, thinking that he will never see her again.
Soon after, Paul goes to Karen's parents' house for dinner so he can meet Karen's cousin. Of course, Karen's cousin is none other than Becky. What is Paul to do now? Afraid of what Karen will do if she were to ever find out, he confronts Becky to make sure that she won't tell Karen the truth. Becky assures him that her lips are sealed and informs him that they did not have sex; they only slept next to each other.
Paul thinks his problems are over until he runs into Ray (Lochlyn Munro), Becky's rage-filled ex-boyfriend who also happens to be a crooked cop. Ray is obsessive and had Becky followed to Paul's house the night of the bachelor party. Ray has pictures of Becky and Paul in bed together and, needless to say, he tries to get his revenge -- by sticking a cheeto up Paul's nose, cracking eggs on his head and throwing him into a dumpster. The whole scenario is more gross and sad than funny.
To stop Ray, Becky decides that she and Paul should break into Ray's apartment and steal the negatives. As a result, they spend more time together. This of course leads Paul to fall for Becky and to reconsider his fast approaching wedding to Karen.
This scenario also is (cinematically) supposed to show Becky's quirky craziness. But Becky and Paul spend most of their time hiding in Ray's shower from his menacing dog. There is nothing quirky about that.
"A Guy Thing," simply put, is hollow. The outer surface appears to be good -- a cute, fun romantic comedy. This is only an illusion. Inside there is nothing. More accurately put, there is not enough.
Even more accurately, there is not enough of Julia Stiles. Throughout the movie -- and despite top billing -- She occupies more of a supporting role. It is not exactly clear why Becky loves Paul and why Paul loves Becky.
"A Guy Thing" would have the audience believe that Becky has a magnetic personality and is a carefree spirit. However, this is not completely conveyed in the movie. How is she carefree? Is it because she changes jobs frequently? Is it because she works at a hip music store? Becky is not fleshed out; she is not a complete character. The only thing memorable of Stiles' character is her cute, layered haircut. But a haircut is not enough to carry a movie.
Beyond that, Paul is not frantic enough for a comedy where emotions are supposed to be exaggerated. It is funny to watch a character completely freak out because the audience knows things will end happily. Lee plays his character with too much restraint. Sure he is nervous about Karen finding out about Becky, but he isn't frantic enough. There is not much excitement to Lee's character, or to the plot for that matter.
Because "A Guy Thing" is marketed as a romantic comedy, I thought it would (and indeed should) be funny. I was wrong. "A Guy Thing" focuses its energies on the wrong things. There is an extended scene where Paul pretends to have diarrhea so he can avoid meeting Becky at his future in-laws' house. After the first few minutes it looses its humor and the scene drags on.
Compared to this extended but utterly lacking scene, other parts of "A Guy Thing" with more potential are glossed over. At the rehearsal dinner, the cook puts marijuana into the gravy, which is soon devoured by both sets of in-laws and the minister. The audience is only given a snippet of the effects this special gravy has on the guests. The scenario has potential but "A Guy Thing" manages to botch it. Paul and Karen don't even notice that their parents are acting strangely, and because of this, the scene seems disjointed.
"A Guy Thing" has misplaced restraint. Instead of restraining scenes that serve no purpose (for example, the aforementioned diarrhea scene) the movie restrains parts with the potential for hilarity. "A Guy Thing" is incomplete, empty and dull; basically, it's nothing.
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