Guy X

by Pa Rock
Movie Reviewer

It's late at night, I'm truly tired and thinking about going to bed when, just for the heck of it, I surf through the channels one last time. Even with two movie channels and a good cable lineup that includes PBS, BBC, and the History Channel, I am relatively certain that I won't come across anything that will capsize my plans about hitting the hay. But there is this movie starting, one that I have not seen or even heard of before, so I watch a few minutes just for grins - and in those first few minutes I get hooked! God, I hate it when that happens!

The movie is a quirky and edgy cinematic endeavor from 2005 entitled Guy X. It is based on the book, No One Thinks of Greenland, by John Griesemer. The film is a British production that employs some very good American acting talent.

Guy X is hard to classify, a fact that led to several reviewers slamming the effort quite soundly. My initial impression was that I was watching a science fiction film, but it quickly brought in elements of comedy, drama, and even suspense. The Internet Movie Data Base decided to label Guy X as a "black comedy," which is a fairly apt grasp of the complete product.

The action takes place in 1979 at a US Army airbase in Greenland. A large plane touches down on an isolated air strip near the base just as the opening titles fade. The back door of the plane opens and a young soldier is summarily tossed out onto a hard tarmac several feet below - and the door closes. As the soldier struggles to his feet and begins to try to get back to the plane, the back door again opens and his full ruck sack is thrown out to him. Again, the door closes and the plane begins to taxi off down the runway with the soldier chasing it on foot in futile pursuit.

As soon as the plane is airborne and the soldier gives up the chase, he is suddenly and viciously attacked by a swarm of killer mosquitoes which eventually render him unconscious. (That was the point at which I decided that I might be watching a science fiction film.) He comes to in the small base hospital where he quickly realizes that he has someone else's name and identity. He had been enroute to a great tour in Hawaii, but was tossed out in Greenland as somebody else. All of that plus nearly being eaten alive by mosquitoes during their brief, annual mating ritual! It's enough to make a guy not want to re-enlist!

Rudy (Jason Biggs) learns that he is expected to serve as the Public Information Officer (PIO) for the base commander, Colonel Woolwrap (Jeremy Northam), and that his primary duty in that position will be to produce a base newspaper - with a name that the commander has selected (The Harpoon), and with content that meets the commander's approval.

The soldier, who tries running off but quickly discovers that there is no place to run to in Greenland, soon settles down to his new career as a newspaper editor. As he learns to put a paper together, he makes a few friends and becomes infatuated with the commander's beautiful assistant, Irene (Natascha McElhone). One day while stalking Irene across the rugged arctic landscape, Rudy sees her enter a buried airplane hangar. He stealthily follows her in and discovers the real mission of the base.

That's enough plot. Yes, it does have a sense of Catch-22 and Mash, and if I had to make the call on it, I would classify Rudy as more Yossarian than Hawkeye Pierce - but the young editor is a fairly original character, very aptly portrayed by Biggs. McElhone is beautiful, and, to me, is way too coifed to fit well into the Greenland landscape as an Army enlisted person. (Though the movie was actually filmed in Iceland.) Jeremy Northam as Colonel Woolwrap is endearing in a sadistic sort of way. Northam gives the movie its steely edge, yet his character also spits out a lot of dry humor.

None of the reviewers seemed to like Guy X - the professionals or the consumers, but I was transfixed - to the point that I want to read the book and will probably watch the movie again. It is a very clever concept, well executed, and I want to go back for a clearer understanding and to see what I might have missed the first time around. To me, it was that good!