A Guy Thing

'A Guy Thing' is one of those infuriating rom-coms where no one acts like normal people would act. They all act completely absurd and then they're surprised to find out that their actions have come back around to bite them in the ass.

Paul (Jason Lee) is a mild-mannered man who's about to get married to his girlfriend Karen (Selma Blair). But, before every wedding there's always a bachelor party. Paul's loud-mouthed friend Jim (Shawn Hatosy) gets Paul to loosen up and have a good time. After all, he's going to be married soon. Tied down to the same woman for the rest of his life. He should live a little.

The party was a haze, but the next morning Paul wakes up next to a young girl named Becky (Julia Stiles). Fearing he had sex with her, he quickly escorts her out of the house before his girlfriend arrives. After that we're treated to 90 minutes of Paul awkwardly trying to hide his supposed relationship with Becky. Of course things pop up at the worst possible times, like a pair of Becky's underwear, but like every good cheating fiancée Paul stumbles around his words like a moron until Karen simply says, "Huh," and goes along her merry way.

'A Guy Thing' is full of far too much situational humor and far too little actual human interaction. People don't act like normal people here. Most movies embellish, but 'A Guy Thing' outright flaunts its stupidity.

Not only do we have to deal with Paul trying to clumsily hide the fact that he may have had sex with Becky, we have to endure excruciating pain once we find out Becky has an ex-boyfriend who's also a dirty cop. Now Paul is being stalked by this guy just to add another nutcase to the movie.

There are maybe one or two laughs in 'A Guy Thing' and that's it. I normally like Jason Lee. I loved him in 'My Name is Earl,' and usually give him the benefit of the doubt (unless we're talking 'Chipmunk' movies). However, here he's asked to be a complete doofus. A man who blathers line after line of stumbling dialogue. A man who acts extremely guilty in every scene, but the people around him are too clueless to pick up on it. In real-life if someone was doing that much stammering when we were talking to them we'd think they were having a stroke.

Stay away from 'A Guy Thing.' That's pretty easy though, seeing that this third-tier comedy from MGM hardly made a dent at the box office and then was quickly forgotten. It's better it stay that way.

The Blu-ray: Vital Disc Stats

'A Guy Thing' comes to Blu-ray via MGM. It's housed on a 50-GB Blu-ray Disc and is coded for Region A use.

Yeesh! This is one of those MGM transfers that look like no one spent a lick of time actually making sure it was done right. While I'll question the choice to actually bring 'A Guy Thing' to the format, if you do, at least make sure it looks decent!

The image is constantly stuck in a state of dimness. A murky, muddled affair where colors are muted and lack any sort of pop. Even the bright green undies and bikini worn by Julia Stiles fail to actually jump off the screen at all. Film grain goes beyond cinematic and enters the realm of all out noise. The entire picture looks like it's crawling with microscopic bugs. Edges are indistinct and fuzzy. Blacks are noisy and gray without the slightest hint of inkiness. They appear duller gray than anything.

The entire picture looks hazy and undefined. Frankly, I see little to no difference between this supposed 1080p image and a standard definition image from a DVD. It's just an ugly looking presentation all around. Aliasing, banding, and waxy faces are all present at one time or another.

I wasn't all that impressed with the DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 track either, but compared to the video presentation, it's decent. There isn't much in the way of action, so don't expect any supersonic scenes of audio ecstasy.

The movie relies heavily on dialogue, so much of the mix is front and center. Dialogue is normally clear, with a few whispered lines getting lost in the fray. The soundtrack calls for the occasional bass here and there, but nothing overly spectacular or deeply resonating. Rears get a little action – during the bachelor party for example – but, for the most part the movie is a front-heavy affair.

• Audio Commentary – Director Chris Koch is joined by actors Jason Lee, Julia Stiles, Selma Blair, and Thomas Lennon for a commentary that is actually much more satisfying than the movie itself. Every one of these actors is much more interesting than what is happening in the movie, and they make for an audio commentary that's fun to listen to.


• Inside 'A Guy Thing' (SD, 19 min.) – A promo-style making-of featurette which features lengthy EPK interviews from all involved.


• Bachelor Party Confidential (SD, 9 min.) – The cast and crew talk about the bachelor party tradition in this bland, unnecessary featurette.


• Groovy Gravy: Making the Scene in 'A Guy Thing' (SD, 5 min.) – A step-by-step behind the scenes featurette of how the scene with the Pot Gravy was filmed.


• Deleted Scenes (SD, 17 min.) – Seven scenes in all. Optional director commentary is provided.


• Alternate Endings (SD, 8 min.) – Three different alternate endings are included here, and none of them any better or worse than the ending in the movie.


• Gag Reel (SD, 12 min.) – Way too long for a standard, unfunny, gag reel.


• Trailer (SD, 2 min.) – A theatrical trailer is included.

There's a reason most of us forgot 'A Guy Thing' ever existed. It came out in 2003 and was quickly dispatched from cinematic memory... until now. Here's your chance to forget the movie all over again. With crappy video, and average audio it'll be even easier to forget that this Blu-ray release ever happened.

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