The Guys
Y
SepT 13, 2002
One of the first Sept. 11-related features out of the gate, "The Guys," adapted from a stage play written by journalist Anne Nelson, is an eloquent, reflective and beautifully acted meditation on both the profoundly devastating events of one year ago and the slow, painful healing process that has followed in their wake.
While the subject matter may still seem a little too fresh in the minds of many filmgoers to want to pay money to relive the experience, the superb performances of Anthony LaPaglia and Sigourney Weaver are alone reason enough to reconsider.
With the right distributor and a sensitive campaign, "Guys" could end up doing respectable specialty business, though the small screen is probably a more obvious fit for the tricky material.
Weaver's husband, Jim Simpson, who directed the original stage piece and makes his film debut here, wisely sticks to its theatrical roots, resisting the temptation to open it up with the addition of overly familiar news footage or intrusive dramatic recreations.
Instead, the majority of the film is set in an Upper West Side apartment belonging to Joan (Weaver), a journalist who has been asked to help Nick (LaPaglia), a fire captain, prepare eulogies for each of the men who failed to return to his station house Sept. 11.
While the economy of locations might at first seem restrictive, the single setting effectively focuses both the actors and audience members, and those still-unresolved feelings expressed and unanswered questions raised form the basis of an introspective and oddly interactive viewing experience.
Although the two leads both played their roles on the off-off-Broadway stage (over the course of its various runs, Bill Murray, Susan Sarandon, Tim Robbins, Swoosie Kurtz and Amy Irving, among others, have done likewise), Weaver and LaPaglia are forced to do very raw, very honest work, with Simpson's probing close-ups allowing little room for any acting tricks.
On the heels of his acclaimed performance in last year's "Lantana," LaPaglia is again quietly affecting as the anguished firefighter struggling to turn his feelings into words; while Weaver's Joan, when not helping Nick, movingly plays it all-too-close to home when attempting to put some perspective on her own still-swirling sentiments.
Writer Nelson, who has obviously based Joan on her working relationship with a New York firefighter, and director Simpson avoid cluttering the film with unnecessary exposition or a heavy rhetoric. Instead, they wisely allow the actors and Maryse Alberti's lucid, elegant camerawork to find the right pitch.
THE GUYS
ContentFilm ContentFilm presents an Open City Films production
Credits:
Director: Jim Simpson
Screenwriter: Anne Nelson & Jim Simpson
Based on the play by: Anne Nelson
Producers: Jason Kliot, Joana Vicente
Executive producers: Edward R. Pressman, John Schmidt, Bonnie Timmerman
Director of photography: Maryse Alberti
Production designer: Susan Block
Editor: Sarah Flack
Costume designer: Sarah Beers
Music: Ron Carter
Cast:
Nick: Anthony LaPaglia
Joan: Sigourney Weaver
Running time -- 98 minutes
No MPAA rating
While the subject matter may still seem a little too fresh in the minds of many filmgoers to want to pay money to relive the experience, the superb performances of Anthony LaPaglia and Sigourney Weaver are alone reason enough to reconsider.
With the right distributor and a sensitive campaign, "Guys" could end up doing respectable specialty business, though the small screen is probably a more obvious fit for the tricky material.
Weaver's husband, Jim Simpson, who directed the original stage piece and makes his film debut here, wisely sticks to its theatrical roots, resisting the temptation to open it up with the addition of overly familiar news footage or intrusive dramatic recreations.
Instead, the majority of the film is set in an Upper West Side apartment belonging to Joan (Weaver), a journalist who has been asked to help Nick (LaPaglia), a fire captain, prepare eulogies for each of the men who failed to return to his station house Sept. 11.
While the economy of locations might at first seem restrictive, the single setting effectively focuses both the actors and audience members, and those still-unresolved feelings expressed and unanswered questions raised form the basis of an introspective and oddly interactive viewing experience.
Although the two leads both played their roles on the off-off-Broadway stage (over the course of its various runs, Bill Murray, Susan Sarandon, Tim Robbins, Swoosie Kurtz and Amy Irving, among others, have done likewise), Weaver and LaPaglia are forced to do very raw, very honest work, with Simpson's probing close-ups allowing little room for any acting tricks.
On the heels of his acclaimed performance in last year's "Lantana," LaPaglia is again quietly affecting as the anguished firefighter struggling to turn his feelings into words; while Weaver's Joan, when not helping Nick, movingly plays it all-too-close to home when attempting to put some perspective on her own still-swirling sentiments.
Writer Nelson, who has obviously based Joan on her working relationship with a New York firefighter, and director Simpson avoid cluttering the film with unnecessary exposition or a heavy rhetoric. Instead, they wisely allow the actors and Maryse Alberti's lucid, elegant camerawork to find the right pitch.
THE GUYS
ContentFilm ContentFilm presents an Open City Films production
Credits:
Director: Jim Simpson
Screenwriter: Anne Nelson & Jim Simpson
Based on the play by: Anne Nelson
Producers: Jason Kliot, Joana Vicente
Executive producers: Edward R. Pressman, John Schmidt, Bonnie Timmerman
Director of photography: Maryse Alberti
Production designer: Susan Block
Editor: Sarah Flack
Costume designer: Sarah Beers
Music: Ron Carter
Cast:
Nick: Anthony LaPaglia
Joan: Sigourney Weaver
Running time -- 98 minutes
No MPAA rating
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