The Guys (2002)

Directed by: Jim Simpson | 85 minutes | drama | Actors: Sigourney Weaver, Anthony LaPaglia, Irene Walsh, Jim Simpson, Charlotte Simpson, Julian Trompeter, Katharine Schreiber, Lucas DeBassac, Joshua Ross, Alfredo Narciso, Julia Nelson Black, David Nelson Black, Marcus Collins

Eight daring firefighters, who died in the September 11, 2001 attack on the World Trade Center in New York, take center stage in ‘The Guys’. Partly due to the time of release of the film, there is no room for exciting action scenes, heroic rescue operations or collapsing skyscrapers. No, the film consists of an interview by writer Sigourney Weaver with fire chief Anthony LaPaglia.

‘The Guys’ is a tribute to all the firefighters who did not survive the disaster. In addition, Commander LaPaglia’s difficult coping process is important, as are the personal feelings of writer Weaver. Both embody the difficult grieving process of New York residents after 9/11. The film was released in 2002 and has a subdued tone, as the horrific events were still fresh in the memory.

Director Jim Simpson, Weaver’s husband, deliberately opts for a sober drama. The chosen form demands a lot from the talent of both protagonists. Sigourney Weaver’s game is flat and overshadowed by her opponent LaPaglia. On the one hand she is trying to make a sober story about the dead firefighters and on the other hand she has not yet dealt with the disaster itself. LaPaglia impresses as the tormented leader of a group of firefighters, who does not understand why he is alive and many of his colleagues perished. Gradually, ‘The Guys’, LaPaglia develops from an emotionally blocked man with red eyes to an endearing person who is proud of his men.

Fortunately, director Simpson occasionally alternates the long conversation between the fire chief and the writer with impressions of New York after the attack. The short breaks are a welcome change and, in addition, show how upset New Yorkers are at the disaster that befell their city. Sigourney Weaver provides the voiceover for the images, but the philosophical commentary is quickly boring and adds nothing essential.

The conversation between Weaver and LaPaglia – the backbone of the film – turns out to be too narrow a base to fill an hour and a half. Fortunately, LaPaglia thaws during the interview, but ‘The Guys’ is too unappealing and boring. You drop out because of a meager script, a story that is as tragic as it is predictable and the lack of a musical score.