Just to be really brief on this, I consider Ed Burns to be
a very under rated guy - as an Actor, Director & Writer. Brothers, She’s The One, No Looking Back & Sidewalks Of New York are even better to me now than they were when they were originally released, and alongside straight acting roles like Saving Private Ryan & one of my favourite flicks, Confidence – I like the guy, and was looking forward to seeing this one for some time.
The Groomsmen
follows the story of five friends, Paulie (Burns), Jimbo (Donal Logue),
Mike (Jay Mohr), T.C. (John Leguizamo) & Dez (Matthew Lillard) in
the days leading up to Paulie’s wedding, and in turn runs the familiar
themes of dealing with past mistakes, failed romances & finally
becoming fully-fledged “Adults”. To say this is a cross between The Last Kiss & Beautiful Girls
is a bit of an understatement, but to dismiss it as a clone would be a
mistake. As with all Burns films, the characters are well written, and
even though some of the turns of plot may be overly familiar to the
casual viewer, the acting shines through. This is perhaps
where I can pay one of the biggest compliments towards this film – with
the exception of Burns & Leguizamo, I really am not a fan of most
of the actors in the movie, but they all won me over here. Mohr (who
I’ve only ever liked in Go),
Logue & even Matthew Lillard (who I’ve just plain never liked) all
show exactly what they are capable of when someone gives them the right
kind of material, and allows them a bit of free run to really work
within the movie. Good stuff all around from the lads. That’s
not to say that it’s all about the boys: Brittany Murphy, Shari Albert,
Jessica Capshaw & Heather Burns all do their part to add a bit of
girly charm to the film, and though they definitely play second fiddle
to the boys - again, the characters are such that you won’t really
notice the testosterone slant.
For a flick that runs just over the 1.5 hour mark, The Groomsmen
is well worth your time to take a look at. If you’ve stayed a fan of
Burns over the years, this is going to just add to your catalogue in
the form of another great film from him, but more importantly, if
you’re one of those people that tuned out after his first few
flicks, The Groomsmen might just be the one to bring you back.
EXTRASNothing
on offer here - which is no real surprise considering the lack of
interest this got at the box office. Perhaps it will find new life on
DVD? Conclusion:
Movie 80% Extras: N/A 
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