review for All Over the Guy on AllMovie

Gay romantic comedies have come a long way since In & Out. That's the message of All Over the Guy, in which several characters use the 1997 Kevin Kline starrer as an example of how to make a pandering and homophobic movie that masquerades as an empowering groundbreaker. Executive producer Don Roos, who directed the gay-themed The Opposite of Sex, and director Julie Davis have made one of the most matter-of-fact gay movies to hit the screen, a structurally simple love story which happens to star two men instead of a man and a woman. There's neither a hot-button hook nor anyone debating whether to come out of the closet -- just earnest performances and witty dialogue. Dan Bucatinsky, who stars as Eli and was romantically linked to Roos at the time, neither courts nor shies away from gay jokes in his screenplay, employing them only as a natural part of the teasing camaraderie that characterizes the featured friendships. He perfectly captures Eli's balance between skepticism and yearning, and Richard Ruccolo makes a credible departure from TV's Two Guys and a Girl as the unsentimental stud, Tom. Sasha Alexander and Adam Goldberg are winning as the film's bickering heterosexual couple. Among the supporting performances, Roos regulars Christina Ricci and Lisa Kudrow are forgettable, but Doris Roberts, as the cheerfully vulgar clinic receptionist who becomes Eli's confidante, nearly steals the show. Look also for Joanna Kerns, late of TV's Growing Pains, playing against type as Tom's alcoholic mom.