All Over The Guy

Rating:
Summary: A romantic comedy...with a twist
Review: "All Over the Guy" is a romance....a story that finds love for two couples, one gay and one straight. Though the story begins with the straight couple's romance and eventual engagement, the majority of the story deals with the budding romance between the gay couple and the emotional baggage that each man brings to the relationship. Richard Ruccolo is good as the ruggedly handsome alcoholic dealing with a lifetime of mental abuse from his alcoholic parents. Andrea Martin is a riot as Tom's (Dan Bucatinksy's character)mother. Doris Robert is good in her small role and the film also contains cameos by Lisa Kudrow and Christina Ricci, who play's Tom's sister. The dvd doesn't have much in the way of special features but if you like romantic comedy you will enjoy this film.

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Summary: Review of All Over The Guy by Cheri
Review: "All Over the Guy" is a romantic comedy with enough drama to make it an engrossing film. It is about an adorable yet nerdy, neurotic, perfectionist, named Eli (Dan Bucatinsky), and his search for "the one" person to spend the rest of his life with. It is easy to see why he is high-strung. Eli has over-protective Jewish parents, who are not only shrinks, but they psychoanalyze his every feeling.

Tom (Richard Ruccolo) is a promiscuous, self-hating, recovering alcoholic, who fears commitment, especially when he likes a person-or worse-the person likes him. He goes back to Alcoholics Anonymous when he falls off the wagon; he claims the trigger as being "all over this guy." At AA, Tom vows to quit drinking-and guys-because he cannot be trusted with either. Tom was raised by uncaring, bickering, alcoholic parents, who fostered his fear of intimacy. When you meet his parents at their country club you understand why Tom is the way he is. Richard Ruccolo is irresistible as Tom.

Jackie (Sasha Alexander) is Tom's best friend. She meets a guy named Brett (Adam Goldberg), who works at a furniture store, and immediately falls for him. She finds out Brett has a gay friend, Eli, and since she has a gay friend, Tom, she devises a way to get a date with Brett by fixing their two friends up. Jackie and Brett arrange for Eli and Tom to go on a blind date while they cement their own relationship.

Eli and Tom's blind date was awkward and both men decide it was a disaster. Then, they run into one another at a flea market and feelings begin to stir. They have a quick fling, cheapened by Tom claiming it was a mistake. Eli didn't know what to make of it. Every time Eli thinks Tom is letting him in-Tom backs away because of fear. Tom tells another member of AA the story about his rocky relationship with Eli. The person turns out not to be his ally.

Eli meets a receptionist at an STD Testing Clinic, Esther, played by the hilarious Doris Roberts (Everybody Loves Raymond), and tells her the whole story about Tom and him, while waiting to be tested for HIV. Doris Roberts does not disappoint as the yenta (busybody) who gets Eli to open up and share his feelings.

Eli's parents (Andrea Martin and Tony Abatemarco), as liberal therapists, are hysterical. Dr. Wyckoff, Eli's mother, is the epitome of the smothering, meddling, Jewish mother who drives her son crazy. She gives him neurosis he probably wouldn't have had, had she not gotten her PhD in order to use her "expertise" on him.

Lisa Kudrow plays a perfect airhead, Marie, in a cameo performance, as an actor trying, and barely succeeding, to make a radio commercial. Christina Ricci plays Eli's sister, Rayna, who is a nice addition to the ensemble.

"All Over the Guy" is about the trials and tribulations of relationships and love. It is a funny, delightful, double date, which is positively yummy. The movie mixes comedy with drama. I have seen All Over the Guy several times and it cracks me up every time. It is such a feel good movie you want to feel good repeatedly. This movie includes an incredible cast, good music, likeable characters, an interesting story line, and a witty screenplay, written by Dan Bucatinsky. These fine elements all come together to make this an incredible movie.

Rating:
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.

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Summary: I Always Hate Those Movies I Like,
Review: 'Cause There's Always An Ending...

So glad to see Richard Riccolo in the movie. I can't write an useful review but I still want to say something nice about the movie. Director Julie Davis didn't intend to illustrate a stereotypical gay film that deals with 'coming out', 'Drugs and Sex' or 'fighting aginst AIDS'. This movie is just about a relationship whose main characters happen to be gay. I like movie with this sort of healthy approach. Writer Dan Bucatinsky should be praised for that also. However, the plot was too common thus predictable. Well, at least it's still a good choice for a relaxing evening filled with laughters. I must conclude that Richard Riccolo just shines! To me, he gave a brilliant performance for his role as Tom. Watch out for his "killer eyes" and that very charming smile of his. How come we don't see him that often in movies? "You do the math". Support this fine actor by grabbing this DVD. It's worthwhile I tell you.

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Summary: Great d.v.d.
Review: ... It portrays a gay relationship quite honestly. The stars make it really believable.

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Summary: "You think just because we f***ed, that makes us a........."
Review: A pure romantic comedy this is NOT.........perhaps, more correctly, it's a "dramedy." After all, how many mainstream gay movies have you ever seen in which a character utters such a descriptive term (see title of this review) for a sexual act that's earlier taken place? Yes, this movie's for real, and it is very much a real life movie. Just stop to think about it, that when you've had Eli's and, particularly, Tom's kinds of childhood, well, you then have a great deal to overcome in adult life, whether it be in a hetereosexual or a homosexual relationship. And if you, dear reader, haven't grown up in a household where alcohol has been a parental "drug of choice," then don't presume to judge Tom's behavior in this movie. Most realistically, Ruccolo has made Tom a direct product of his parent's relationship.

In this "romantic comedy" Ruccolo gives us an especially intense performance which is actually easy to see, if you will only carefully watch his scenes: the telling facial expressions and eye movement; his body-set when he, for example, moves to stand against Eli in one scene, or to unobtrusively cup Eli's hands in another; even his movement of jaw muscles (did someone think his role through, or not!) His end-of-film, wedding kitchen "tirade" (Hey!!!!!) is more than enough to almost scare and stop any viewer short, as it certainly does Eli in that scene. This guy is one hell of an actor......why haven't we since seen a lot more of him? (The "curse" of playing a gay role; is there such a thing?)

Yet it is in Eli's control freak behavior that lies Tom's salvation. For of all the things Eli's shrink parents have given him that they shouldn't have, it's his capacity for understanding, which they also bequeathed, that will in the end save Tom......and Eli, himself, as well. And Bucatinsky is just great at showing us a little bit of ourselves (or, perhaps, a lot) in his skillful portrayal.

If you're reading reviews for a movie such as this, then please accept my recommendation to make it a part of any DVD collection you may have.....it's more than worthy of repeated viewings.......you'll catch so much more each time that you do.

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Summary: All Over Those Guys!
Review: A real "feel good" movie, that's also funnier than [heck]. ... My friends & I are thinking about joining an "All Over The Guy" support group, because, not a few weeks go by that we don't watch this flick, or share it with friends, who always love it, & usually go out & buy it themselves. Yeah, we find it that funny. There may be a couple of moments that will fly over heterosexuals heads... But for the most part, this movie is for everyone...The premise of the just met & really hot for each other straight couple, hysterically played by Sasha Alexander & Adam Goldberg, who have a first date kind of based on the condition of fixing up their respective best friends, both of whom are gay, gets the ball rolling. The best friends are flawlessly, humorously, and touchingly played by Richard Ruccolo and Dan Bucatinsky, Bucatinsky also being the writer and producer of this film. (Yeah, the boy is talented.)The trials of dating, gay or straight, and the ridiculous walls we put up in order to avoid intimacy, which would thereby result in us "exposing ourselves", and committing the punishable- by- death crime of being "vulnerable" and admitting we're human, are universal. This film is filled with so many little bon-bons of witticism, that you'll uncover new ones on each viewing. And you'll be screeching at the all too familiar patterns we all employ, where love is concerned. This is a great ensamble cast, with even the smallest parts, like Christina Ricci's, being hysterical & relevant. Also, Doris Roberts is a hoot as the clinic receptionist. OH !, and "Eli's" parents, the psychologists, will have you rolling on the floor at their ultra-liberal psycho-babble. All these characters are just written & portrayed with dead-on humor. Most of these people are television stars, and, as the only t.v. I watch is Judge Judy and Animal Planet, I was really not too familiar with them. But I found them all just great. The fact that this movie is so funny doesn't take away from it also being incredibly touching. We ALWAYS cry at the end. After loving it so much the first time, we wanted to share it with friends, but thought maybe it was one of those flicks you thought at the time was hysterical, but, to you & your guests horror, in actuality was not funny at all, and you must have been having substance flashbacks on the first viewing. Not so with this movie, it's just as all - around great, BETTER, even, the second time around. If you don't like this flick, send me the video cover it came in , and I'll EAT IT! , that's how sure I am you're gonna love this flick. Ain't love grand??

Rating:
Summary: The course of true love, whatever kind
Review: A straight couple (Sasha Alexander and Adam Goldberg) set up their respective best friends, both gay (Dan Bucatinsky and Richard Ruccolo) on a blind date. While the straight romance goes swimmingly along the gay couple lurches from crisis to crisis. Dan Bucatinsky, the star, also wrote and produced this romantic comedy-drama. There are many side-splitting scenes and great one-liners--the two men's disastrous first date, where they seem to have absolutely nothing in common, is especially on-target. The more serious scenes between Bucatinsky and Ruccolo, as they start to realize that they _do_ love one another after all, don't work as well, the dialogue lapsing into clichés. There is also too much glib pop psychological explanation as to why the two guys are so dysfunctional with regard to relationships. Still, with the talents of actors such as Lisa Kudrow, Cristina Ricci and Doris Roberts in supporting roles, this movie kept me continually laughing and entertained for the duration.

Rating:
Summary: A snuggle up, feel good movie
Review: A wonderful way to spend an evening cuddled on the couch with someone special. It made me smile, it made me laugh and it made me cry. What more could you ask for?? It was simply a good movie. I especially enjoyed seeing two men realistically go through the same struggles and insecurities straight couples often do during that search for Mr. Right and being afraid that they just might find him. Once it goes to a decent retail price, I will definitely be adding it to my video collection. Until then, I may just go rent it again...several times. And...Whitedane, learn to spell. It's Christina Ricci.

Rating:
Summary: Small Mind A Little Larger Now
Review: After watching this movie, my view of homosexual relationships changed forever. I am a 36 year old heterosexual woman, and I never thought a movie about homosexual males could move me the way this movie did. Bravo to the fine, attractive actors in this movie. Their passionate, angst-filled scenes slammed into my psyche, and opened my mind and heart. I would love to thank the people involved with this film for broadening my small mind.