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Friday, August 4, 2006
'The Groomsmen' taps into the humanity behind the stereotypes
Edward Burns is not deep, but he has a lot of heart.
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"The Groomsmen," while as corny as a Staten Island marriage proposal, rings true on many levels.
Burns, who wrote and directed, plays Paulie, a 35-year-old "boy" engaged to be married to his pregnant girlfriend, Sue (Brittany Murphy). The film opens three days before the wedding, with friends and relatives of the groom hoisting beers at the local bar. It seems innocuous, but soon becomes apparent that each of these revelers has severe domestic issues.
Dez (Matthew Lilliard), despite a near-psychotic need to rock out one more time with the members of his high school band, proves the most mature of the lot. On the other end of the spectrum is Mike (Jay Mohr), who cannot master the oceans of negative emotion in which he has been drowning since his girlfriend dumped him. He also has not forgiven his best friend, T.C. (John Leguizamo), for stealing a baseball card from him eight years ago. Paulie's brother, Jimbo (Donal Logue), is the most pitiful of the lot, with a secret that he is afraid will destroy his marriage.
While Burns' script boasts its share of simmering conflicts erupting into poignant reconciliations, "The Groomsmen" is more about the quietly shared moments of friendship than conflict and crisis. Like a baseball game, there are long stretches in which nothing much happens except that everybody has his eye on the ball.
As a writer/director, Burns loves his characters as well as the actors playing them. There is a sense of these people that extends beyond the boundaries of the film into real life. Many of them have bad personalities, but there is a humanity behind the stereotypes that is seldom glimpsed in this type of male-bonding film.
Burns is less successful with the female characters, who are somewhat marginalized. This is too bad, especially in the case of Murphy, who hasn't been this unaffectedly adorable since "Clueless." She hasn't anywhere to go with it, however, as the script keeps her housebound.
But if Burns were savvier with his women, he might not be as good as he is at making movies about guys who have so much trouble with them.
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