>>REVIEW
THE GROOMSMEN
DIRECTED BY Ed Burns
Alliance Atlantis, 2006
The Groomsmen is quite simply the best film of 2006 that almost nobody saw. After premièring at the Tribeca Film Festival in April last year, the latest relationship dramedy from writer-director Ed Burns made the rounds on the art-house circuit only to disappear into obscurity. This is a shame not simply because it’s his best film to date, but because Burns deftly captures what so many other filmmakers haven’t been able to – the malaise of the thirtysomething male.
As Paulie, Burns revives his calling card role – a sarcastic New Yorker. This time, though, he is set to marry his pregnant girlfriend Sue (Brittany Murphy). For the big day he’s gathering all his friends to help celebrate. His brother Jimbo (Donal Logue) is pissed off and nobody knows why. His married pal Dez (Matthew Lillard) is hell-bent on re-forming their old high school band, while his single, brokenhearted friend Mike (Jay Mohr) can’t get over his ex. Stirring things up is the return of the prodigal pal T.C.(John Leguizamo), who left the ’hood years before without so much as a good-bye.
With a set up like that, you might expect The Groomsmen to be nothing more than a bunch of post-adolescent guys mourning the loss of their teen years, but Burns, with an uncanny knack for dialogue, makes it so much more. While Burns explores the almost-middle-age male psyche, the film paints a realistic portrait of modern romance. Where The Last Kiss offered nothing in the way of depth or insight, The Groomsmen is touching, poignant and endearing.
This is due partially to Burns’s lean script, but the film’s success rests firmly on the brilliant ensemble cast. There isn’t a second of this film where anybody feels false. This is a group of usually good performers playing against type, giving what could be career-best turns. The usually manic Lillard acts as the voice of reason, the likable Logue is a bit of a prick, Mohr’s raging self-confidence is supplanted by devastating self-doubt and Leguizamo’s fast-talking schmoozer is absent in favour of something infinitely more subtle.
In any other film, these characters and the scenarios would be played merely for laughs or cliché. Don’t misunderstand – this film is funny, but the writing and performances are so strong, that every scene in this tight little film does exactly what it should. The Groomsmen is not just shockingly good and touchingly sincere. It is entertaining in a way that few films this clever usually are. |
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