Mix some romantic drama into Wall Street (1987) and you may end up with a movie like The Good Guy. Julio DiPietro, a former investment banker turned writer-director, is obviously quite familiar with the territory as he lingers into the apparent dynamics of Wall Street business just as much as he does into in the romantic aspects of the love triangle at the center of this movie.

Tommy Fielding (Scott Porter) seems to have it all: He is a high-flying Wall Street trader who is equally adept at pitting big money manager against each other for high volume stock transactions with his customers as he is at wooing babes left and right amid the New York City night life. When his top trader leaves for a competing firm, Tommy decides to give Daniel Seaver (Bryan Greenberg), the geeky IT guy, an opportunity to take the vacant position. The problem is that Daniel is a smart but completely clueless and socially awkward fellow, a “Forrest Gump without people skills” as they put it. He also is a straight arrow who has a hard time being dishonest, an attribute which does not mesh too well with his new job.

Tommy has no choice but to take him under his wing and teach him all the social skills needed to become a top salesman. This also includes how to pick up girls, something that Tommy seems strangely adept at. Things get complicated when Daniel coincidentally meets Beth (Alexis Bledel), Tommy’s girlfriend of 3 months. A friendship blossoms between the two as they share a passion for literature and eventually, Tommy and Daniel are pitted against each other for the same girl.

The Good Guy doesn’t break any new ground but it manages to feel fresh and avoid most of the cliches that plague the vast majority of romantic movies. DiPietro manages to make the movie misleading and somewhat surprising along the way, for example by opening a movie with a short sequence showing Tommy’s pathetic demise and then flashing back 6 weeks to recount the story. Additionally, it is interesting to note that the film revolves significantly around the two male protagonists instead of the female main character, making this movie much less “chick-flickish” than you would expect from the circumstances.

The tone of the film is mostly lighthearted but I wouldn’t characterize it as a full blown romantic comedy as it may just be more of a romantic drama. After all, we do look into the supposedly highly desirable life of a Wall Street hotshot  -it was made pre-financial meltdown– and it turns out to be a little more depressing than you would expect. Despite clocking in at a compact 90 minutes, the movie never feels hurried and the main characters are given plenty of time to develop in various settings.

DiPietro extracts some solid performances from the cast. Bryan Greenberg is actually quite excellent playing the socially inept Daniel who apparently has never talked to a woman before. His reticence to play by Tommy’s sleazy playbook makes him quite convincing as a guy who is a straight arrow and has great integrity. Alexis Bledel does not stray from her bookish Gilmore Girls persona and gives an unspectacular but competent performance as Beth.

The antihero and main center of attention, however, is Tommy who is finely played by Scott Porter. One of the refreshing aspect of this romantic comedy is that for most of the movie, he is a mostly sympathetic character that one can relate to and not the outright villain boyfriend that you usually find in most romantic comedies. Porter gives a nuanced performance that complements DiPietro slow unraveling of his character.

Produced on a relatively tight $10 million budget, the movie features some surprisingly good looking New York City scenery while the set design does a good job of conveying the hip and socialite background of the characters. On a final note, the soundtrack is discreet albeit completely nondescript.

The Good Guy is a pleasant and relatively fresh romantic comedy that is worth a look.

B-

(6.5/10)

Notes: Rated R for pervasive language and some sexual content, 90 min, a Belladona Productions release.