Eli (Dan Bucatinsky) is hard to please. He wants a long term relationship. He wants honesty. He wants to love and be loved.

      Tom (Richard Ruccolo) drinks too much, martinis, baby, hold the vermouth. He suffers from a troubled childhood and his parents don't accept his lifestyle. If Eli genuinely cares for him, Tom speculates, there must be something wrong with Eli.

      Will Tom allow himself to trust Eli? Will Eli's neurotic behavior drive Tom away? A romantic comedy based on these conflicts can have potential regardless whether or not the romance is one approved by the Bush Administration.

      It is not enough for a film these days to hook viewers purely based on the presence of a gay male romance. The gay male romantic comedy genre has almost reached the mainstream. America's fascination with homosexual sexual practices now exceeds the base levels of a Joe Eszterhas script. No longer, will audiences be aghast by the connection of the bodies, mouths, and other refinements of two men in a romantic embrace.

      "All Over the Guy" comfortably presents its less than traditional material as directly as "Pretty Woman" made it clear that Julia Roberts walked the streets for money prior to telling Richard Gere that the sports car he could not drive handled like it was on rails. We get it all here--sex American style, at least, the face of sex once relegated to America's closet. Somehow, however, I don't think that "All Over the Guy" will find its way into our living rooms on Sunday as the CBS evening movie.

      "All Over the Guy" tells the story of two sets of friends. Brett (Adam Goldberg) is a straight male furniture designer and Eli is his gay newspaper editor best friend. Jackie (Sasha Alexander) is looking for a piece of furniture one day and meets Brett. Brett is interested in Jackie but Jackie mistakenly believes that Brett is gay because, after all, he is a furniture designer and his best friend is gay. Quickly, Jackie realizes her error and attempts to snare Brett by setting Eli up with her best friend Tom. Love and "The Planet of the Apes" have major or minor parts depending on where your interests lie.

      Without one extremely well placed and well acted sex scene, "All Over the Guy" may have settled comfortably into the romantic comedy aisle at your local video store (I wonder if Blockbuster will choose to carry it). The scene is entirely male and IS SEXY. When I spoke with the film's star Dan Bucatinsky, I revealed that I was straight but that I did not want my orientation to color my opinion of the scene. You see, it is possible to not be stimulated sexually but to recognize the fact that sexy is relative and takes may different forms.

      "All Over the Guy" was written by Dan Bucatinsky and directed by Julie Davis this time with a much larger budget than her previous offerings "I Love You, Don't Touch Me" and "Amy's Orgasm." Both the direction and the screenplay are competent. The dialogue gets a case of the cutes, at times, and the pace of the ending seems too neat. Because the film is meant as a romantic comedy positive closure is expected.

      There is a humorous cameo by Lisa Kudrow. She is worth watching here. Christina Ricci is very natural playing Eli's hip bad-girl sister. Watch for a strange tattoo on her shoulder in one scene (I do not follow the girl on the Internet, but I certainly admire her work). Adam Goldberg who plays Brett is a familiar face you may remember him from "Saving Private Ryan."

      "All Over the Guy" lacks pretense. Everyone comfortably knows their place (gay or straight) and no one appears about to switch sides of the sexual fence. The story focuses on love, finding it, keeping it, and living with it. Isn't love all that should matter anyway?

Jonathan W. Hickman, 2001