17 hours ago
You probably missed this rom-com gem when it debuted — but it's on Prime Video now
Catching "A Guy Thing" for the first time changed how I feel about settling on random movies. I had no idea what it was about, didn't read its plot summary and had no idea what to expect. I'm glad I went in blind, though, because it's now a huge favorite of mine.
Why? It's a simple rom-com that doesn't take itself too seriously, and it's all the better for it. When I was in the mood for something light and romantic, it called to me like a siren's song in a sea of samey romance movies. Jason Lee? A screwball premise? I was in immediately, and I'm glad I gave it a chance.
Directed by Chris Koch, this early 2000s comedy follows a straight-laced groom-to-be who wakes up next to his fiancée's cousin after a wild bachelor party. What follows is a chain reaction of increasingly absurd cover-ups. And of course, it has that same kind of breezy pacing you'd expect as a product of the time. "A Guy Thing" is exactly the sort of under-the-radar comfort movie that doesn't get talked about much anymore, but probably should. If you're curious, you're in luck: It's streaming right now on Prime Video.
Paul (Jason Lee) is a groom-to-be who wakes up the morning after his bachelor party next to Becky (Julia Stiles), a woman he doesn't recognize. No problem, right? Wrong. Becky is his fiancée Karen's (Selma Blair) cousin.
But instead of coming clean like any upstanding man might do, Paul decides to try to hide what happened. As you can imagine, that goes absolutely terribly for him. And in true rom-com fashion, this one faux pas kicks off a chain of unnecessary cover-ups, lies and awkward situations that make it all even worse in the end than if he had tried to be upfront about the situation.
One bad decision snowballs into a full-blown mess that involves Paul's nosy friends, his suspicious in-laws and a wedding date that's coming up fast. The more Paul tries to fix things, the more hilariously off the rails everything goes. And you want to feel bad for him. You really do. But you really can't just write this transgression off, especially given Becky's proximity to Paul's betrothed. Surely Paul is aware of the family members surrounding the woman he's about to marry.
Of course, Becky plays a role in all this as well, as you'd think she has some sort of grasp on who her dear cousin is marrying. But those are questions we shouldn't think about while watching Paul spiral out of control, hilariously so.
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Most of "A Guy Thing" is a series of scenes involving bad luck and slapstick comedy. If that's your thing, you'll settle right in. You'll watch Paul scramble to hide a stray thong from his fiancée, bluff his way through an excruciating dinner with her parents, and survive a Hawaiian-themed dance lesson without blowing his cover.
Then you'll check the calendar, because are these things actually happening in a movie you're watching in 2025? No, because this is the power of the classic 2000s rom-com. And you should let it wash over you.
The idiocy expands to grocery store chases, public proposals, and encounters with a very determined (and annoying) private investigator. Still, there are some more introspective moments where Paul and Becky connect over the fact that neither of them really fits into the boxes people have built for them.
"A Guy Thing" might seem like another wedding-week rom-com, but it has a knack for squeezing some feel-good humor out of specific, escalating disasters instead of silly, tired clichés. Hopefully, however, it'll convince someone out there to tell the truth instead of raking themselves over the coals.
If that's the kind of vibe you're looking for instead of weepy drama and love lasting over time immemorial, park it and take in this fun little flick. It's free, after all.
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