The Guys

A New York Fire Department captain (Anthony LaPaglia), numbed by grief, turns to a writer (Sigourney Weaver) to help with the eulogies he must deliver for eight of his men who died on September 11. Writer Anne Nelson and director Jim Simpson (who wrote and directed the original two-character stage production in New York) resist the temptation to expand the scope and action of the play or to dilute its power by adding extraneous characters or scenes. As a result, the stage origins are clear to see, but they don’t really matter. We may see and hear only two characters, but the presence of eight others—and by implication, hundreds more—is clearly felt. Weaver and (especially) LaPaglia are at their very best, and the film builds from its simple beginning to become something heartfelt and deeply moving.