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All Over The Guy

All Over The Guy

List Price: $14.98
Your Price: $11.98
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Rating: 3 stars
Summary: Decent but not Memorable
Review: Eli is a gay journalist living in LA, single and miserable. His best friend Jackie, a straight girl, set Eli up on a blind date with Tom, a friend of her boyfriend Brett's. The date is disastrous, but in the aftermath, they begin to discover that they have a lot in common. Most of the movie centers on their difficulties in starting a relationship. They both have hang-ups and problems: Eli is neurotic and a perfectionist, Tom is an alcoholic slob. Can they ever make their shaky relationship work?

This is a decent enough movie. It's funny and sweet, but nothing really sets it apart as great. The acting is decent with occasional flashes of life. The writing is decent with the occasional great line. Over all, though, it's a little forgettable. The leads, played by Dan Bucatinsky and Richard Ruccolo of "Two Guys and a Girl" fame, are convincingly portrayed but you just never come to care deeply about what happens to them, individually or as a couple. The best part of the movie is the cameos. Doris Roberts as a gossipy receptionist at an AIDS clinic, Christina Ricci as Eli's sarcastic sister, and Lisa Kudrow as an untalented voice-over actress were the highlights of the film.

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: Realistic portrayal of a complicated romance
Review: "All over the guy" is a winning romantic comedy that brilliantly explores both gay and straight relationships, perfectly capturing the fears, foibles, and confusion facing modern twentysomethings looking for love.

Eli (Dan Bucantinsky, who also adapted the script from his stage play) and Tom (Richard Ruccolo) are complete opposites, set up by their two straight best friends, Jackie (Sasha Alexander) and Brett (Adam Goldberg) after a chance encounter in a furniture store.

Eli and his sister (Christina Ricci) are the products of therapist parents (his mother is played by the always hilarious Andrea Martin) who over-express, over-analyze and idealize love. The exact opposite of Eli, Tom is a detached, promiscuous alcoholic unable to express the slightest emotion. The two share a night of physical attraction but after constant bickering they quickly conclude that they cannot have a meaningful relationship. Despite a few chance encounters, the seemingly polar opposites quickly fall back into their single routines: Eli hits therapy and Tom hits the bars. Meanwhile, a blooming relationship and subsequent engagement between Jackie and Brett forces the estranged Eli and Tom to finally face one another, allowing more romantic complications to arise.

Julie Davis (writer, star, and director of last year's lesser "Amy's Orgasm) wonderfully directs the large cast with consistent skill and judgment, while Bucatinsky comes up with some unexpected revelations that effectively add darker tones to his abundant sense of humor. Best of all, "All Over the Guy" displays a light, warm, funny, and unself-conscious quality, making it loads of fun. It is definitely one of the better gay films out there, that gets better with each viewing.

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: One of my favorites...
Review: I rented this film by chance and laughed through most of it. Eli is so neurotic and Tom is so fearful, it came across as very real. Eli's intrusive, embarrassing therapist mom steals the show. It's a fun film. You won't be disappointed.

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: Sweet, funny romances among humans
Review: I hate it when reviewers erase the gay theme in a movie by saying, "This isn't really about homosexuality, but...blah, blah, blah." Well, this movie is about homosexuality, among other things. And love between men...and friendship among men and women, too. I have seen it twice now and I like it better each time. Dan Bucatinsky picks up the sound of contemporary speech in his script and he makes an appealing, funny and sexy half of a male couple-in-the-making, along with the very cute Richard Ruccolo, who shows a surprising range and courage as an actor. Who knew? If you're expecting Immortal Drama, this is not your film. If you want an artist's view of how humans stumble through life and love (and if you can tolerate a happy ending), you'll enjoy AOTG. The final scene, the wedding dance in the sunset over LA, still plays in my memory, with the Jayhawk's "I'm Gonna Make You Love Me". This movie is a celebration, equally, of friendship, of love between men and women, and love between men. I like it a lot.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Entertaining, funny and touching
Review: Everyone is always entitled to their opinion but what I can say about this movie is that it grabbed me from the opening frame. If you like soap operas, then I think you will enjoy this picture. This movie doesnt try to solve the problems of the world or get too preachy. And yes its predictable. And yes we hope the two gay characters can get their act together by the end of the film. Likable characters, good acting, and an interesting story that keeps us hooked to the end. This movie has all the elements that makes All Over the Guy the great rainy day movie that one can enjoy lounging on the couch.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: A wonderful insight into the dynamics of gay relationships
Review: I had ordered the DVD of "All Over The Guy' on the strength of Richard Ruccolo. I loved him in '2guys and a girl' and was eager to see him in another role. Richard really breaks out of the sitcom mould in this movie - his characterisation of a chain smoking, heavy drinking masculine gay man is nothing short of breathtaking. The film itself is wonderful. It really delves into the difficulties of gay relationships in todays' society and how hard it is to meet 'Mr Right'. The onscreen dynamic between Dan Bucatinsky and Richard Ruccolo is excellent - you really are drawn into the complexities of their relationship. A special note should be made of the DVD. Unlike many smaller budget, indi films, this one is packed with features such as an audio commentary, deleted scenes, storyboards, interviews, trailers and a short film made by the director that will have you glued to the screen for hours. A wonderful movie that I wholeheartedly recommend.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: a definate feel good movie
Review: I loved this movie and recommended it to everyone I could think of (and they all loved it, too). No matter if you are gay or straight, this is a great picture. In the end, when Tom finally realizes that Eli is the ONE for him and that he loves Eli as much as he loves Tom, it makes you feel wonderful. I watch the wedding scene over and over again.

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: Fantastic Gay Love Story
Review: I found the story very powerful in demonstrating what so many other gay people are projecting in their lives. So many are afraid that they are not good enough for the person that they have fallen in love with, and for a dozen reasons find excuses not to reveal their true feelings to the love of their life. I recommed this movie to anyone who has doubts of their worth. I found many parts of the movie comical and still revealing inter-emotions that needed to be satisfied.

Rating: 1 stars
Summary: Can I enter 0 stars?
Review: Was I watching a bad sitcom on Friday night or this film? Was I watching Step by Step with Suzanne Somers? It was hard to tell. My God, are we that hard up for glimpses of gays on film that we will be satisfied with terrible movies like this? The number of stars is misleading everyone!

Rating: 1 stars
Summary: What society am I living in?
Review: Are you kidding me? After suffering through neutered, mall-friendly movies that coddle the mainstream (Broken Hearts Club, Kiss Me Guido, Billy's Hollywood Screen Trick) with oh-so-cute quips and sitcom observations, I wanted to be straight! When I finished viewing this film I thought about homosexuality, politcal correctness, and why we accept mediocrity so easily. Is it because we truly are so starved to see any reflection of gay life on film? It is understandable, but not acceptable.
It's movies like this that make me long for the literary voice of Pauline Kael or a one-liner from Sandra Bernhard. Most shocking is that Woody Allen's mumbling acolyte Adam Goldberg is not the most annoying thing in it. When the infamous Fuzzy Wuzzy argument hit the screen, I wanted to as well. Bland characters, jaw droppingly bad dialogue ' "Do you know what the sound of pot roast going down the garbage disposal sounds like?" '.......it's all here and waiting to be purchased. What more can I say? I'll tell you: rent 'Straight' by David Schamder or 'Beautiful Thing' or 'Brink of Summer's End' or Jeffrey's Hollywood Screen Trick or get Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? and pretend the female characters are men! If you find no success with any of these then read The Rise and Fall of Gay Culture or something by Oscar Wilde or Becoming a Man by Paul Monette or just tape Will and Grace and call it a day! It's films like All Over the Guy that make me long for the good 'ol days when we were portrayed as serial killers and raving queens. If you're completely lost by what I'm saying then here's a quote from Mr. Schmader's 'Straight': "To give a rousing standing ovation to an entirely mediocre gay arts event seems no different than clapping extra loud for the retarded kid in a talent show."


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