Customer Reviews

Guy X

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4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

In someone would want to remake the 1970's film Catch-22, Alan Arkin's role should be played by Jason Biggs. WAIT A SECOND, Guy-X is so similar to Arkin's Catch-22 that you feel this new tale of the modern day miltary is so similar to the classic film.

Biggs's Rudy is an everyman to the wonders that this black comedy avails to miltary life. Guy X pokes a stick at a baying miltary and its red tape. This film does not let up, when coming to their biting satire. As Catch-22 and M*A*S*H poked fun at other styles of the miltary life and SNUFUS. This comedy similar to those and the films Buffalo Soldiers and Jarhead , which showcases how screwed up our miltary is.

This film is cute in spots. It is also sharp and to the point regarding our miltary

Bennet Pomerantz AUDIOWORLD

Beware: a few spoilers here...

I realize that the term "dark comedy" doesn't mean a barrel of laughs, so I wasn't expecting that. There are a few funny moments, however. Jason Biggs is underrated in this film, as it's a quality departure from the American Pie antics that made him famous.

More should have been shown of the conspiracy aspect with the Vietnam vets in the "ward." Throwing in a flashback or two to their experience in Vietnam would have explained a lot, although being an indie movie, the producer probably just didn't have the budget.

The film ends with very little closure, and the practically impossible idea that the the Soldiers could just fly off to other installations and assume the identities of random high-ranking officers. Seems like another case in which Hollywood makes the US Military look like a disorganized bunch of buffoons... whether they were trying to or not.

Overall, this is an interesting, well-acted film that had so much potential... until it was made.

The flick is based on a falsehood: that there was a secret hospital in Greenland where maimed casualties of the Korean War were housed so that they could die unbeknownst to their families. (For the movie, natch, the war was updated to Vietnam.) Unlike the author of No One Thinks of Greenland: A Novel, and unlike the producers of this film version, which was made in the comparative comfort of Iceland, I have actually been to Greenland and researched the legend of Hospital Valley.

Alas for legend, there's nothing to it. A considerable hospital was indeed built in Narsarsuaq in 1942, both to handle sick and injured military personnel stationed in Greenland, but also to serve as a waypoint for severe casualties being sent home from Europe. It treated 2,137 patients in 1943, its high point. The airbase--Bluie West One--was active into the 1950s, when it was a refueling point for jet fighters deploying to Europe. By that time the hospital staff was down to three physicians, so one wing was used as a thirty-student school and another as the BW1 officers club. Sorry! No armless, legless, or faceless soldiers from Korea, never mind Vietnam. It was closed in 1958 when the US turned the base over to Denmark, and the hospital buildings were salvaged for lumber, so valuable in treeless Greenland. Blue skies! -- Dan Ford

The serious part of this film is a subject that I'd like to know more about. A hospice for Vietnam War Soldiers and it being kept secret. Why be ashamed of something so admirable, so good, so right.

The M*A*S*H-like atmosphere was fun, but why cover over the "Mission of Mercy?" Before the "classified underground project" was exposed and developed, I was almost ready to switch DVD's but I was hooked once the "secret" was in my face.

I don't usually associate the price of a film with the actual product because a low price can indicate things other than the quality of a finished product film. Things like: an older, dated film or a subject matter that has fallen out of grace, overstocked item.

I bought this film for one (1) cent and it was worth every penny.

If you are hankering for an old-fashioned, liberal anti-establishment War film, ala M.A.S.H. or "Catch-22," or even "Kelley's Heroes," you have found the right film. The tone here captures the comically languid, pointless, and sometimes idiotic role of government and the war machine, matched with a muckraking Jason Biggs and his band of misfits as they battle a despotic, fascist base commander. Throw in a beautiful love interest and a Pentagon coverup and you have an entertaining, admirable near-miss that will leave you satisfied you watched the whole thing, and possibly a bit more than that.

"Sitting on top of the world"
"25 Miles"
"When the Saints Go Marching In"
"War"
"Spinning Wheel"
"Peer Gynt"
"A Fifth of Beethoven"
"Action Time Vision"
"Louie Louie"
"One Mint Julep"
"Walk like a Man"
"Lonesome Day"

Interspersed with a Catch 22 environment and a dark secret.

Set in 1979 a corporeal is inadvertently deposited in a weird put post in Greenland. There he lards about edible Puffins and wayward blonds (Natascha McElhone.) Until one day he discovers the true purpose of the base.

After doing a few months working in Thule, Greenland and seeing this movie made everything seem so real. With a little twist in the plot but made working at Thule Air Base seem so awesome. It has some real out of this world places where something like that could happen. And know one would know until something would be sent out and everyone would know something is going on. It's a small group of people that enjoy working North of the Artic Circle and know what is going on with almost everyone up there.
Which is perfect for this movie. If you know anyone stationed at Thule. This is a good plot for normal life up there. I really liked it for that.
It had some serious plot in it but a lot of partying and everyone knowing your business. How real it is.

The words that come to mind: Cheaply-made, terribly acted, doofus direction, stupid. I'm not sure if they were trying to copy a STRIPES-type movie genre, but = BIG FAIL. Sucked. What made Natascha McElhone want to star in a stinker like this? Jason Biggs pigeon-holed himself into another dumb*** comedy. This, an American Pie in Greenland ? Nah. This movie is selling for 0.01 on Amazon (115 copies); that about sez it all.