Guy X (2005)

36% of critics liked it
(11 reviews)
24% of users liked it
(1,775 ratings)

This loose update of John Griesemer's biting and satirical 2001 anti-war novel No One Thinks of Greenland features American Pie starrer Jason Biggs as Corporal Rudy Spruance, a young man enlisted in the U.S. military in the late 1970s, at the height of the Cold War between the States and the Soviet… More This loose update of John Griesemer's biting and satirical 2001 anti-war novel No One Thinks of Greenland features American Pie starrer Jason Biggs as Corporal Rudy Spruance, a young man enlisted in the U.S. military in the late 1970s, at the height of the Cold War between the States and the Soviet Union. Though he's supposed to be transferred to Hawaii, Rudy is instead thrown out of a plane on a quasi-vacant airstrip in an unspecified location. He hits his head, loses consciousness, and comes to in a local infirmary - only to have doctors inform him that: A) He isn't in Hawaii, he's on a military base in icy Greenland, and B) His name isn't Rudy Spruance, it is Martin Pederson. The bombastic, ignorant base commander, Corporal Lane Woolwrap (Jeremy Northam) dismisses Rudy's assertions of mistaken identity and hands him his mission: to start a propagandistic newspaper used to generate morale among the troops. Instead of doing this, Rudy happens upon an isolated, top-secret building that houses some long-kept secrets related to government malfeasance - well aware of the implications of his discovery. Natascha McElhone co-stars as Woolwrap's girlfriend. ~ Nathan Southern, Rovi

Rating, Runtime: R, 1 hr. 34 min.
Directed By: Saul Metzstein
Genres: Comedy

In Theaters: May 13, 2005 Wide
On DVD: Nov 27, 2007

Critic Reviews

Susan Walker, Toronto Star
A movie that doesn't know whether it is slapstick comedy, satire, mystery or a schlock horror flick. Whatever it is, it is highly derivative, and of little consequence.
Kate Taylor, Globe and Mail
A jack of all formulas and master of none.
Jay Weissberg, Variety
A political black comedy without the bite of the classic military satires it tries to emulate.
David Cornelius, DVDTalk.com
Succeeds in creating a languid, almost hypnotic portrait of go-nowhere, do-nothing peacetime military life.
Angela Baldassarre, Sympatico.ca
"Guy X" wins the prize for most boring, pointless and disappointing war movie of the year.
Jim Slotek, Jam! Movies
Guy X could be the weirdest failure of the year. It's also not for anyone prone to soft-tissue neck injury, so abruptly does it switch gears from one movie to another.
Joe Utichi, FilmFocus
Brilliantly told and will remain with you as you leave the theatre.
Nev Pierce, BBC
A film which lingers and haunts, but never compels.
Rich Cline, Shadows on the Wall
While there's an enjoyable subversive atmosphere, the story simply isn't sharp enough to mean much of anything
Matthew Turner, ViewLondon
Jason Biggs (doomed to have some variation of the words 'pie-botherer' in every article ever written about him thanks to the American Pie movies) makes a successful leap from comedy to drama here.

Read all 10 critic reviews

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Featured Audience Ratings

Bannan i

Strange, but altogether intriguing. The story of a soldier transferred to Greenland instead of Hawaii and the impossibility of escape. When I saw Jason Biggs, I didn't expect much but he wasn't too bad in here. Sure, the movie itself is based upon a book I suspect that is… More
Strange, but altogether intriguing. The story of a soldier transferred to Greenland instead of Hawaii and the impossibility of escape. When I saw Jason Biggs, I didn't expect much but he wasn't too bad in here. Sure, the movie itself is based upon a book I suspect that is aimed at mocking the whole idea of transfer errors. There, in Greenland is base Quarratanga [sp?] - pretty much somewhere where soldiers go 'cause they've screwed up too many times to simply useless. Up there, they load and unload cargo that flies there every once in a while. When, set soldier [Biggs] accidentally walks into a terrible secret...then things start to get really interesting. Sarcastic at times, gritty and possibly miserable at others. A bizarre film, no doubt...because you'd expect nothing to happen and yet it does.
Marcus W

This film probably would have been a lot better if it could make up it's mind as to exactly what it is: one minute it's trying to be Buffalo Soldiers, the next some Military thriller involving something that's never actually explained. And as the film doesn't take… More
This film probably would have been a lot better if it could make up it's mind as to exactly what it is: one minute it's trying to be Buffalo Soldiers, the next some Military thriller involving something that's never actually explained. And as the film doesn't take either of these seriously it fails on both accounts.