The Guys (2002) Reviews

• A subtle, powerful film; well-written, true to life.

  revbgreer2004-07-21

  As a fire service chaplain and critical incident stress management provider, I worked with FDNY at Ground Zero, starting four days after 9/11. Rotating on night, evening and day shifts, I wandered along the edges of the WTC debris field and nearby side streets to check in with resting firefighters. I met an FDNY captain that lost nine "brothers," an FDNY lieutenant that lost his firefighter son-in-law. One FDNY member said: "We all lost somebody in 'The Pile.'" One conversation stands out. Seeing the small cross on my lapel and asking for a blessing, a lone firefighter operating a pumper vented for at least 15 minutes. "Do you realize how many Little League coaches we've lost, how many kids in this city lost their coaches, mentors and neighbors, how many husbands, fathers, sons, brothers, uncles and cousins we've lost?" That's the point of the film: the human side of such a great loss, beyond and beneath all the heroism hype. Anthony LaPaglia brilliantly portrays an FDNY fire captain for what he was at heart: an ordinary guy; thus, the film's name: "The Guys." The eight eulogies LaPaglia's character had to deliver at eight funerals on behalf of his fire company were much more about ordinary people that served and died in extraordinary circumstances: "guys" that went to church picnics, to their kids' ball games, that fixed just about anything, that could (or couldn't) cook, etc. LaPaglia's portrayal captured the essence of so many firefighters: paramilitary, loyal, straightfoward, problem solvers, action (versus reflection) oriented people that love "The Job;" people generally not given to wordsmithing or "being in touch with their feelings." Yet, given the right encouragement (as from Weaver's character), we discover the deeper nuances and sensitivities of their humanity. They are indeed very ordinary people called upon to perform extraordinary deeds. It's a subtle film that invites the viewer to ponder the immense human loss we suffered on 9/11/01 -- the loss of some three thousand souls, each with a life story worth telling beyond and beneath whatever they may have done for a living. Even more, the film invites us to reflect upon our own reactions and responses to 9/11 as "ordinary people affected by extraordinary circumstances," seeking to find a "new normal" after a day that will live forever, with other days like it, in infamy. My thanks to all that had a part in the writing and making of this little gem of a film.

  More

• Speaking for the Survivors

  mysticwit2003-11-22

  One of the most compelling ways to tell a story is to let it tell itself, without embellishment. In The Guys, Anne Nelson's story does just that. The events of September 11, 2001 are a very volatile subject; Nelson's story stays focused on how to talk about firefighters lost in one engine company at the World Trade Center. It humanizes the event and the emotional aftershock and side steps everything else. Simpson skillfully blends voice-over, text, storytelling, simulated archive footage, along with traditional film-making, keeping the spirit of the original stage play intact. It would be easy to tell such a tale with force fed melodrama, but instead, the audience is allowed breathing room to process right along with the characters on the screen. Through sheer providence a journalist, was asked to assist a Fire Department captain to write eight eulogies for men lost on September 11. It's all told primarily through La Paglia and Weaver, who both turn in solid performances. Weaver embodies everyone who is the voice of every thought ricocheting through the head of everyone who's not directly effected. La Paglia's delivers an understated but eloquent performance of a man who can't afford the luxury of his own grief; through La Paglia, we see struggling to find a voice for the unspeakable. There is a lot to be said on the subject of September 11; this film is a reminder of perspective.

  More

• Still hurts....

  tauerly2005-08-14

  I didn't know what to expect either. I kept wondering about the black/white tape at the beginning, wondering if some kind of crime would happen. Just before the show the title of the movie they go back and show the whole picture, then I finally see the date beside the time. Then I realize what it would be about. Still my imagination was not as "real" as the movie would be. It is not about the characters, it is about people. How the firefighter captain speaks the words that are in his heart, the author just types into a machine. Words that catch the people as easily as the events had. Good words can ease the suffering. Nobody will ever forget the day Rambo, Superman, Batmann, yet the whole League of Justice, Wonderman and all the other superheros were on a sponsored company pick nick and here many people died. It was a reality check for everybody. Although I like Bill Murray, who did the theatric play with SW, I think Anthony LaPaglia did a good job. Maybe he got the role because he is starring in the TV show Without a trace which is about missing persons. I never doubted Signourney Weaver. Don't watch the movie totally unaware what will happen. The events will overwhelm you and when you think you made it through the movie without crying, wait for the end. Watch it and remember where you were and how you felt. And remember the people you love and tell them.

  More

• Reciprocity

  janet-552006-02-06

  I have foregone watching this film for months as I feared it might be mawkish and far too US orientated. In the event I was surprised. This isn't a film specifically about 9/11 even though the deaths discussed in the movie are those of firefighters from the FDNY. It is more concerned with how major events of this nature can impinge themselves on everyone. Many years ago when I was living in Birmingham (UK) I can remember lying in bed one night, heavily pregnant, listening to the news of the Birmingham pub bombings. Like 9/11 this was an event (though considerably smaller in numbers of deaths and injuries)that reverberated through a community for many months afterwards and in some respects still remains a significant part of Birmingham's unique character. Grief is not something to be shaken off so lightly and it is this fact upon which the film centres. There is no laying of blame -no mention of terrorists. The film simply describes how the Fire Captain Nick Costello has to cope with his grief in order to communicate to writer Joan the humanity of these people and what they meant to him; so that he can give a fitting eulogy for them. As a member of the audience it was this element of reciprocity with such events that struck me so forcibly, and the feelings of hopelessness such incidents engender. As for the script in most part it was excellent and amazingly understated, though in my opinion Joan's internal dialogues were not necessary, we all knew how she felt from watching her reaction to Nick relating his feelings in both words and looks towards his lost men. That to one side, the acting is flawless throughout by both actors. This is a truly excellent film, a deeply moving essay on grief and mental trauma; in my mind I kept revisiting Wilfred Owen's letters home to his mother from the trenches during the First World War, strongly conscious of the eerie connection.

  More

• I have to comment on the comments below.

  chris-8322003-11-03

  The film is good. It's thoughtful and poignant. The acting was well done and the directing made it as interesting as possible given the material (i.e. two people talking). Be warned that this movie is not your average mass-consumption media fare, and if your IQ is hovering around 100 or less you are better off renting an Adam Sandler or Jerry Bruckheimer movie. The backdrop is 9/11 but you could take the two characters out of NY 2001 and dropped them into any similar tragedy in history. It is not a "US Propaganda" film as someone tried to state below. It is a film about two people having to cope with tragedy. One who was directly touched and one who was sitting on the sidelines wishing to be able to help out. On that level, on telling the brief story of two people who should never have met, it works very well. Finally, to the person who said "If I were director, I would have ... had someone write a better script..." >>THE FILM IS BASED ON A TWO-PERSON PLAY!!!<< The above statement is as ignorant and mind-numbingly stupid as someone saying "I wish the director of Hamlet had someone write a better script with more fight scenes."

  More