In the wake of the terrorist attacks on New York City and Washington D.C., of September 11, 2001, Jim Simpson, the creative director of New York City's Flea Theater Company, wanted to stage a theater piece which would deal with the human impact of this tragedy. When Simpson met journalist Anne Nelson, he discovered a true life story which dealt with the September 11 incidents in an intimate but affecting manner, and he encouraged her to adapt her story into a play; the drama quickly became a major critical success, and Simpson made his screen directorial debut with this film adaptation. Joan (Sigourney Weaver) is a veteran journalist who through a friend finds herself taking on an unusual assignment: Nick is a captain in the New York Fire Department who lost eight of the 12 men in his company while attempting to evacuate the World Trade Center towers following the terrorist attacks. Nick has been given the responsibility of delivering their eulogies at a series of memorial services, but Nick has no experience with such things and isn't sure of what to say. Joan volunteers to help, and over the course of several days she interviews Nick, finding out how much (or how little) he knew about the men under his command, and together they try to find the words to honor each man's memory, and pay tribute to their sacrifices in the larger picture of a national tragedy. Sigourney Weaver, who appeared in the initial Flea Theater Company production of The Guys, is also the wife of director Jim Simpson; Bill Murray, Tim Robbins, Susan Sarandon, and Amy Irving are among the actors who have also lent their talents to the show. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
Review
Jim Simpson's The Guys, based on a stage play by journalist Anne Nelson, is essentially a two-hander, and the film excels sporadically in portraying the struggle of two people: Nick, a fire chief played by Anthony LaPaglia, and Joan, a journalist based on Nelson and played by Simpson's wife, Sigourney Weaver -- to share their grief. Simpson opens up the play a bit, cutting in a few scenes of Joan's encounters with other people affected by the trauma of 9/11. In one sequence, Joan talks about waking up in the morning and not remembering what's happened to New York for a moment, and we see Weaver act out Joan's painful dawning realization. This brief sequence points out a problem with The Guys. The subject hits so close to home for many viewers that each time it inadvertently draws attention to its own artifice, as it does several times -- a miscast extra, a moment of uncertain acting, an overly florid line -- it's jarring. It feels like a betrayal. Simpson's film has its strengths. There's a transcendent moment of fantasy early on that is everything the film should be -- sharply written and acted, unexpected, and wholly human. LaPaglia captures all of Nick's helpless hurt and anger with precision. Weaver is also very good, though she is saddled with the script's weaker moments. The film is a tribute, not just to the bravery and humanity of the fallen firefighters, but to the power of the author's craft, so it's impossible not to see it as self-serving on some level. But the film serves its function in explicating the overwhelming grief of 9/11, showing the importance of looking at each victim of a catastrophic event as an individual, and exploring the power of words to forge connections between us. ~ Josh Ralske, All Movie Guide
Sarah Beers - Costume Designer, Jim Simpson - Director, Sarah Flack - Editor, Edward R. Pressman - Executive Producer, Bonnie Timmermann - Executive Producer, John Schmidt - Executive Producer, Ron Carter - Composer (Music Score), Terry McKnight - Musical Direction/Supervision, Susan Block - Production Designer, Maryse Alberti - Cinematographer, Joana Vicente - Producer, Jason Kliot - Producer, Fred Helm - Sound/Sound Designer, Anne Nelson - Screenwriter, Jim Simpson - Screenwriter, Anne Nelson - Play Author
