This Thursday is Valentine’s Day, and as a tribute to this holiday, we decided to watch what we thought was a Chick Flick called “The Good Guy”. I say that we thought it was a chick flick because it turned out to be a bit different.
The acting in this movie was about average. Alexis Bledel is the usual innocent girl known as Beth in this movie who is coupled with Scott Porter who is the dirtbag Wall Street guy named Tommy. The most awkward performance award, however, goes to Bryan Greenberg who plays Daniel, the newcomer to Tommy’s company. Those are the feature characters of the movie and they are all pretty bland except for the semi-rambunctious Tommy and his friends. The situations seemed relatively realistic as did the characters, but the direction that was taken with the story is what made it less believable. The same result could have come about if Tommy had a different path paved by the writer(s).
This movie was kind of boring at first. It also tried to do the whole flashforward and then tell the story from the beginning thing. It worked okay, but the movie felt like it was following a formula the rest of the time. I actually enjoyed the “twist” at the end, but it wasn’t a huge surprise. It was actually nice to see the good guy win in the end but it didn’t happen until the VERY end. It was like “Pursuit of Happyness” when you cry the whole time and then it’s happy the last thirty seconds of the movie!
I said before that this movie defied our expectations and now I’ll tell you why. To me, a chick flick is not as dirty feeling (“Bridesmaids” being an exception) or guy-centric as this movie was. I felt like the director, who was also the writer, used all the clichés in the book in terms of guys who cheat on their girlfriends. Normally those movies turn out to be inspiring like, “you go girl,” but that wasn’t the case. I thought that the movie focused too much on the guys and how they interacted when they could have built up Beth’s story to make her a little more interesting. I think this movie will have a hard time finding a target audience because it was all over the place in tone and genre. It would go from rom-com, to stalker thriller, to Wall Street story, and a million things in-between.
Overall I give this movie a 4 out of 10. It was okay, but not something that you really need to see. I will say that while we picked it thinking it was a Chick Flick, that wasn’t quite what it was. It was a little more angst ridden with less comedy than I thought. I wouldn’t recommend this for a girls night in, but it was mindless drama which is occasionally enjoyable for some people.
Allison
With Valentine’s Day around the corner my group and I decided to watch a chick flick movie this week called “The Good Guy.” So I was expecting this romantic comedy to be just like any other chick flick movie but I found out quickly that this was not the case.
The movie started off with a Wall Street scene where Tommy (Scott Porter) lost a key member of his sales team and decided to take a chance hiring Daniel (Bryan Greenberg). Daniel is the type of guy that doesn’t have a whole lot of experience in the large finance world or even have the way with the ladies, let alone be able to talk to them. Tommy takes Daniel under his wing and shows him how to dress, socialize, and talk to attractive women. Tommy himself has an attractive girlfriend, Beth (Alexis Bledel) which many may know her from “Gilmore Girls.” The movie continues on and doesn’t really have a good plot. It jumps back and forth between the work scene and the personal relationship life and you’re left to wonder what the purpose of the movie is. It ends up being too cliché where the boyfriend does something stupid and the girl no longer wants anything to do with him. This is where Daniel comes to the rescue since he had developed a friendship with Beth, joining her book club and becoming the “good guy.” It was nice seeing that nice guys don’t finish last all the time.
Looking back on this movie it wasn’t really that funny. I mean there were some parts that gave me a chuckle but not any more that a comedy should give me. It was a different kind of chick flick movie in that usually the guy screws up and they end up getting back together at the end. This did not happen but I saw this particular ending coming. To me a good romantic comedy movie would have to be “How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days.” Matthew McConaughey and Kate Hudson work so well together, but these duo (Tommy and Beth) characters were too dull. I would give this a movie a 5 out of 10. I still enjoyed the movie and I’m sure many chick flick lovers would too, but it definitely isn’t your typical kind of movie.
Derrick
Going along with Valentine’s Day we picked the movie The Good Guy. It was one chick-flick that all of us haven’t seen. I had once again never heard of this movie. I am a lady and super fond of chick flicks so I was confident that I would like it.
The Good Guy
I must say the movie was a little slow. I immediately recognized Alexis Bledel from Gilmore Girl’s. Which I absolutely love her in. I also recognized the leading men in the movie as well. The movie is set in New York City. The main characters are Tommy (Scott Porter), Beth (Alexis Bledel) and Daniel(Bryan Greenberg). Beth and Tommy are a couple and Tommy and Daniel work together. Tommy tries to help Daniel with his career and personality. They are complete opposites. The story takes a twist when Daniel meets Beth.
I have to say that I maybe a little cynical. I thoroughly enjoyed this movie. Yes there was some heartbreak and some betrayal but that is life. I feel too often every chick flick I watch the bad guy isn’t portrayed to be a true scum. The Good Guy proves this wrong. You get to see what happens when a guy is a complete jerk. I think girls tend to be really stupid and believe everything in movies. The cheater won’t ever cheat again or he beats me because he loves me. NONE of that is remotely true. I enjoyed this movie because it was believable. Guys will be guys. There was chemistry between the characters and life hit some people in the face. I am also known to be a sucker for a good love story and I also got that in this movie.
The Good Guy gets a 6 in my book. I would totally recommend it to someone who is looking for a different type of love story. There is love there is heartbreak there is betrayal. I enjoyed it the whole time. There was a couple parts where I laughed allowed. But most of all it was real to me and somewhat predictable. So if you are looking for a mediocre flick to watch with your significant other on Valentine’s and you want to stay in, I recommend it to you.
-Kelsy
KAD Movie Reviews 
