Review of Guy X

Introduction

Wasn`t Jason Biggs supposed to take over the world after the `American Pie` films that didn`t suck? A burgeoning new slapstick talent coming to the forefront of Hollyweird, having some of us (read: this reviewer) cringing and howling in equal measure, whether through him making love to pastries, "arriving" a little too quickly... twice, or inadvertently gluing his manbits to his palm. Come on, man - that`s talent. He may not have challenged the famed silent clowns in terms of physical comedy, but damn if he didn`t have pre-racism Michael Richards potential. But he didn`t take over the world. Do you know why? Because after the success of the `Pie` franchise, he proceeded to get offered parts in every two-bit teen comedy, and like the greedy bugger his was, took them all, regardless of what utter rubbish they were bound to turn out to be. They did nothing to maintain his profile, and only watered down his appeal, while the likes of Will Ferrell sprung up in his place.

Where is he now, an unbelievable eight years since the first `American Pie`? Probably hanging around on the set of some ghastly rom-com in the making, sipping mochas with the wasted talents known as Drew Barrymore and Kate Hudson. Sadly the only redeeming features on Biggs` CV between slices of Pie are the odd stop off in drama town. Like here in 2005`s middling army comedy/drama type-thing, `Guy X`, adapted from the novel `No-one Thinks of Greenland` by John Griesemer, where he`s joined by British thesp-alikes Jeremy Northam and (the ever delectable) Natascha McElhone in the tale of a f**k up. A rather big f**k up. And that`s not swearing for the sake of it, friends. It`s the strapline.

June 1979, and after a spate of breaking into people`s homes in which he didn`t do much other than watch some TV and drink a little coffee, Rudy Spruance (Biggs) is offered a choice - go to jail or enlist in the US Army. Choosing the latter, he`s shipped off on a transport to Hawaii - but somehow ends up on a communications base in the middle of Greenland. Worse still, commanding officer Colonel Woolwrap (Northam) is convinced he`s the new corporal he requested for the base`s newspaper, despite Rudy`s protestations. With no-one listening - and despite trying - no real way of escaping his new surroundings, Rudy settles into his role of mistaken identity, sparking up a relationship with base sergeant Irene Teal (McElhone) and finding a place amongst the motley crew of misfits on camp trying to stave off boredom. But Rudy is convinced the base holds a dark secret after he discovers a classified ward of critically-ill war veterans, including the mysterious Guy X (Michael Ironside), a place that no-one will acknowledge the existence of.

Originally released by Tartan, this DVD edition of `Guy X` is a stripped back, budget re-release by their good friends at Prism Leisure.

Video

The rather drab look of army base interiors and frozen wilderness outdoors featured in `Guy X` isn`t helped along by a rather mundane transfer. Anamorphic 1.85:1, there`s signs of both the odd print artefact, and occasions of digital macroblocking and generally doesn`t look all that `clean`. On the plus side, it`s plenty sharp, although this does give way to a fair bit of aliasing around objects; particularly faces and rooftops backdropped by light. Not too bad, but it doesn`t exactly jump off the screen at you.

Audio

Prism`s routine of re-releasing Tartan`s catalogue on a strict budget is always evidenced by the soundtrack options. Here we simply have a sole Dolby Digital 2.0 soundtrack, with no subtitles. Although missing the surround options of the original Tartan release, the DD 2.0 is fairly solid and sounds clear through stereo or Pro-Logic options, with a little more oomph than your average DVD stereo track; which works well with the collection of classic 1970s tunes on the film`s soundtrack.

Features

Stripped of the Tartan extras, they`ve been replaced by a batch of trailers for Prism`s past and upcoming re-releases, and the most redundant of bonus features - a web link.

Conclusion

Saul Metzstein`s schizophrenic sophomore effort, a joint UK, Canada and Iceland co-production, is proof that perhaps he should`ve spent a little more time as Danny Boyle`s gofer. `Guy X` is meandering, unpolished, displays all the hallmarks of over-ambitiously stuffing a meaty novel into a 90-minute film, and despite what reveals itself as a fairly straight-forward premise, the film is clogged up with unnecessary sub-plots and characters, raising questions and, like those metaphorical loose threads, fails to address them. Whether this is entirely purposeful, as in an attempt to lend the film a little pretentious, art-house credence, or if the fault is with a fairly reckless adaptation can only be decided by those familiar with Griesemer`s book, though it feels like the latter. However, it doesn`t really matter, as in this instance it saps the film of its sense of direction, and such a fault has to lie at the door of the man in charge. And there shall it sit.

Starting slowly, `Guy X` at first presents itself as a comedy-of-sorts in the vein of `Private Benjamin` or `Stripes`, but switches tact half-way through, finding itself lost and unprepared in medical conspiracy territory. On reflection, the first 40-minutes feel like an attempt to translate the story to the screen without losing a humourous and edgy writing style the novel probably gunned for, but by ill-mixing comedy with the conspiracy plot, it ultimately falls flat in its intentions. Biggs is fine, although he doesn`t display the sort of heavy chops here that`ll pull him from his gross-out pigeonhole. Northam`s scenery swallowing, ham-it-up performance as gruff southern boy Woolwrap is forced and overworked, and Natascha McElhone - who can`t fail to turn in a decent performance unless she`s either catatonic or having an exceptionally bad day - lights up the screen as usual, but is restrained from flashing her dramatic ankles by the lack of efficient screen time and the strictly generic love-interest part provided for her. There`s a whole base full of oddballs here, but these peripheral characters feel throwaway, wasted, simply background filler until the next plot point in Rudy`s quest to get to the truth behind the base.

Comparisons to Gregor Jordan`s excellent `Buffalo Soldiers` ("war is hell... but peace is f*#!%!! boring!"), a film with a remarkably similar set-up - presenting the sheer tedium faced by soldiers stationed during peace time - are inevitable, and do `Guy X` no favours, with none of the humour, writing, or the flat out balls of the 2001 flick. It`s passable, diverting and it`s certainly not shambolic, but it is utterly misguided. There are certainly worse ways to spend 90-minutes, and it`s seeping with unfulfilled potential, but the lack of concentration and balance in the story result in a uneven film with a narrative that probably should`ve been left firmly in the pages of a book where it could retain an unmolested sense of cohesiveness. The budget makeover from Prism is decent enough, but if you must go out of your way to catch `Guy X`, you`ll have no trouble finding the year-old Tartan edition going for less than the RRP on offer here.