The Truth About Average Guys (2009) - By Duane L. Martin

Film Reviews: The Truth About Average Guys (2009) - By Duane L. Martin
Posted on Monday, February 02, 2009 @ 19:09:04 Mountain Standard Time by Duane

Ken Gayton and Jason Schaver co-wrote and directed The Truth About Average Guys, and bill it as a "chick flick for guys". Honestly, this billing is a bit of a misnomer, and I'll explain why later. First, let's get to what this film is about.

Jason (Ken Gayton) has an intense crush on this girl named Katie (Erika Walter) at his office. She's not your average girl however. She's one of those girls that when she walks by, both girls and guys go sterile just lookin' at her. Unsure of how to get to know her, Jason pays the mail boy to deliver her mail to his office "accidentally" every day so he can take it over to her.

One day, he finally manages to actually talk to her, and asks her out on Saturday. Turns out, she has a mentally challenged sister that she had promised to take to the park on Saturday, and desperate to find any common ground with her, he tells her that he has a mentally challenged brother as well, which in turn leads them to making foursome date for the park. However, there was a problem. Jason didn't really have a mentally handicapped brother. The closest he does have is a deadbeat of a roommate named Troy (Jason Schaver) who's a struggling actor who's about to audition for a part as a mentally challenged guy, so guess who got nominated to play the retarded brother? Troy agrees to help, but only if it doesn't have to pay rent anymore. Jason agrees, and that's when the hilarity ensues. Troy throws himself into the role, and Jason gets his girl...at least for a while.

The Truth About Average Guys is a pretty rare film as far as independent comedies go. Why? Because it's actually really funny. There's a lot of absolutely hilarious material in this film, and for the most part, it all just works.

Comedy is a hard thing to pull off, and can be very subjective. It takes a great comedic sense and talent to make comedy work, and the cast of this film, especially Jason Schaver, really pulled it off beautifully. Is this a comedy for guys? Sure, I think guys would appreciate certain aspects of it more than girls would, but honestly the comedy works whether you're a guy, girl, transgendered or whatever. My wife watched the film with me and she thought it was just as hilarious as I did. In fact, after I get through with this issue of the magazine, I'm planning on watching it with her again just because we both enjoyed it so much.

I think another reason the comedy worked so well is because it was so politically incorrect, which in my book made it even more awesome, since I'm one of those people who despises political correctness. There's even a gay friend named Ed (Jonathan Biver) and some goofs about how Troy isn't his type. He's a regular guy kind of a gay character, not one of those effeminate flower arranger stereotypes, but the material about who was his type and who he'd do and who he wouldn't was really damn funny.

Katie has an unbelievably shallow friend named Denise (Esther Claire) who was the epitome of a shallow bitch, and she did not like Jason at all. While her part wasn't so funny, she did play the part of a super bitch really well.

I've singled out a few people, but literally the whole cast was just great and everyone did a wonderful job with their roles.

Now, on a technical level, the film was competent, but did have a few issues. The sound could have been recorded a bit better here and there, but it was never a major problem. There were also a couple of shots that probably should have been cut because they were pretty quick shots that didn't really add anything to the film. However, the film was generally quite well made, had nice shot set-ups and didn't suffer from any really glaring problems.

I hate using the words "must see" when I talk about films, and I very rarely use that expression in my reviews, but if you like fun comedy, then this movie is a must see. It's well written, well acted and just really damn fun. Personally, I can't wait to watch it again.

If you'd like to find out more about this film, you can check out the film's MySpace page at http://www.myspace.com/agmovie. You can also purchase the film for $9.99 from the MySpace page as well. I would highly suggest picking up a copy and supporting these great film makers. I definitely want to see more from these guys in the future.