Guy

Others here have commented enough on the plot, so rather than be repetitious I will focus on some of the themes. I was fortunate enough to catch 'Guy' the other night on the Sundance Channel. Having been inundated with commentary on reality television for some many years, I was not expecting to glean any new insights into the medium from this film. Much to my surprise and pleasure it seemed to really have something to say about the concept of "the gaze."

It is interesting to examine the film through the psychological lens of Lacan and also consider the gendered "politics of looking" so often spoken of in feminist theory. These concepts, I believe, are heavily present in the film. The reverse of the power dynamic alone (the female subject and the male object) in is truly fascinating and definitely makes it worth a viewing for those of you versed in feminist theory. It makes me wish I was still in college, so I could write a paper about it.

It really bugs me when some lame piece of tripe like this, under the guise of 'art' gets puked up on a screen before me. Pretentious nonsense like this which pretends to be insightful and intelligent tends to ruin the reputation of the few good 'artsy' films that manage to get made. My only hope is that they put MST3K back on the air, so if anybody ever has to suffer through this pain parade can at least have a somewhat enjoyable time.

Experimental films are praiseworthy for being just that. In the present instance, however, there is little else to recommend this one.

Since most films are by nature dramatic, going beyond the commonplace by way of revealing truths requiring vivid action or language, one important measure to be kept in mind is that they are also selective of this or that bit of new or unique presentation allowing us to appreciate the art of the author, the director, or the actors themselves. Just aiming the camera and saying "action" and then allowing the thing to develop sans editing defeats any purpose intended.

Guy is an example of home video run amok. Moreover it denigrates women in general by featuring a main character whose sole reason for existing seems to be draping his doughy body over every female in sight before vanishing into the mist. It just begs the question to try to justify this cinematic gambit by claiming how "true to life" or deeply introspective it might, as if by accident, be. Second-guessing the experiment, however novel it may at first seem, is not my idea of fun at the movies.

This is a great movie, it gave me so much to think about. It provides an insight about feeling safe while you are being watched, in this film it's a movie producer but although it doesn't directly tell it, or maybe it doesn't tell it at all, it could have referring to your parents watching you or why some people believe in god and feel safe with the thought of god watching over them. And the best part is that it doesn't dictate anything, this movie is nearly like a poem, you can understand it in many different ways, and everyone watching it can understand or see something different from it. And the best part is that it has an open ending and you ask yourself what may have happened. I believe the writer knows the human psychology very well.

Two years before "Truman Show" hit the screen, this small, little-known production examined similar issues of voyeurism and viewer obsession. Call this the flip side of "Truman Show" -- he KNOWS he's being filmed, and eventually starts to enjoy it in a twisted fashion. Far from the feel-good dynamic of "TS," this is rough, mean, sometimes brutal and perverse storytelling, but it is no less deeply profound because of it.

D'Onofrio is brilliant, as always. Director Lindsey-Hogg makes the fantastic choice of having "Camera" actor Hope Davis be present for the whole shoot, and the story's dynamic is immeasurably enhanced. Highly, highly recommended for adventurous viewers.