The Groomsmen

A groom and his four groomsmen wrestle with issues such as fatherhood, homosexuality, honesty and growing up in the week leading up to his wedding.

Paulie (Burns), a self-supporting writer, is making plans for his marriage to Sue (Murphy), his girlfriend who is in her 5th month of pregnancy. In real life, Burns' then-girlfriend, supermodel Christy Turlington, was also five months pregnant when they married in June 2003. Christy inspired Burns to rework the manuscript for this movie, which he hadn't worked on in many months.

Paulie is strongly advised by his older brother Jimbo (Logue) to not go through with the wedding. Jimbo, who runs a struggling business, is envious of Paulie, partly because his own childless marriage is unraveling.

T.C. (Leguizamo), who left the neighborhood without explanation eight years earlier, returns for the wedding. Apparently, before leaving, T.C. had stolen a Tom Seaver baseball card from Paulie's cousin Mike (Mohr). Mike still harbors such resentment over the loss that he immediately starts a fight with T.C. Later, T.C. hesitantly reveals that he abruptly left the neighborhood because he's gay and that he stole Mike's card because, even though they were best friends, he hated him for his constant verbal gay bashing.

The neighborhood bar is owned by Dez (Lillard), who is married with two children and is the most content and functional member of the gang. He is continually trying to "get the band back together". He has even pushed his own sons into learning the guitar and is seen riding them to become better.

Jessica Capshaw has a small role in this film. Her stepfather, Steven Spielberg, directed Edward Burns in Saving Private Ryan.

• Edward Burns as Paulie
• Jessica Capshaw as Jen
• Spencer Fox as Jack
• John Leguizamo as T.C.
• Matthew Lillard as Dez
• Donal Logue as Jimbo
• Jay Mohr as Mike (Cousin of Paulie & Jimbo)
• Brittany Murphy as Sue
• Heather Burns as Jules
• John F. O'Donohue as Pops (Uncle of Paulie & Jimbo and father of Mike)
• Joseph O'Keefe as Roman Catholic Priest
• Joe Pistone as Topcat
• Kevin Kash as Strip Club MC
• Amy Leonard as Crystal
• Arthur J. Nascarella as Mr. B
• Shari Albert as Tina
• John Mahoney as Father of Paulie & Jimbo (cut from film- seen in bonus footage only)

The film garnered mixed reviews and only managed a limited release of 26 theaters in the US. It grossed less than one million dollars foreign and domestic.

The Groomsmen received mixed reviews, earning a Rotten Tomatoes approval rating of 52%.

• The Groomsmen at IMDb
• The Groomsmen at Rotten Tomatoes
• Holden, Stephen. (2006, July 14). Growing Up Is Hard to Do, Especially When You're 35. The New York Times, p. B6