THREESOME
A film review by James Berardinelli
Copyright 1994 James Berardinelli
Rating (0 to 10): 5.5
Date Released: 4/8/93 Running Length: 1:33 Rated: R (Sex, nudity, mature themes, language)
Starring: Josh Charles, Lara Flynn Boyle, Stephen Baldwin Director: Andrew Fleming Producers: Brad Krevoy and Steve Stabler Screenplay: Andrew Fleming Music: Thomas Newman Released by TriStar Pictures
Romantic comedies are, by nature, never models of originality, so their appeal is usually based on the freshness of the characters, the charm of their interaction, and about a dozen intangibles. THREESOME has a hook--it pairs two guys and a girl--but that's about all it can claim as far as appeal goes, and it ends up seeming like some sort of bizarre amalgamation of Ben Stiller's REALITY BITES and Truffaut's JULES AND JIM. Add a dash of political correctness, a pinch of ANIMAL HOUSE unruliness, and cook until half-baked.
THREESOME starts out with a familiar premise. Two mismatched male college students, Eddy and Stuart (played by Josh Charles and Stephen Baldwin, respectively) end up sharing a dorm room. They become complimentary cogs in the machine of campus life, with Eddy doing Stuart's homework and the housecleaning while Stuart teaches Eddy how to drink, party, and pick up girls.
Enter Alex (Lara Flynn Boyle), a girl whose gender-unspecific name got her identified as a "male" in the school's computer and consequently assigned to a suite with two guys. Predictably, her arrival creates a whirlwind of sexual tension as she becomes attracted to Eddy, while Stuart pursues her. Meanwhile, the shy and stand-offish subject of Alex's affections recognizes that he may be gay, as evidenced by his feelings for his roommate.
About the only thing that THREESOME does well is to present homosexual relationships with the same degree of sensitivity that it presents heterosexual ones (and note that this statement makes no claims about the depth of this movie's "sensitivity"). No attempts are made to "reform" the gay man by giving him a girlfriend, and there's no cop-out ending where he turns straight. While few will consider THREESOME a landmark in Hollywood's recognition of the normality of same-sex relationships, it at least manages to reduce these to a virtual non-issue.
Unfortunately, other elements of this production are riddled with flaws, not the least of which is a script that veers wildly from silliness to profundity. Somehow, these diametrically opposite approaches don't work well together.
The film goes nowhere, and it doesn't take long for the viewer to wonder if anything is going to happen. THREESOME could have been devised as a stage play, with most of its content occurring within the confines of the dorm suite. It also doesn't demand a campus background since, with the exception of a few throw-away scenes, little that happens has anything to do with studying or classes.
The characters don't start clicking with each other until well past the film's halfway point, and it takes even longer for the audience to warm to them. Perhaps a little more genuine interaction, and a little less reliance on voice-overs and gimmicky scenes of "rock tune bonding" (designed to sell soundtracks) would have helped.
While the script has its clever moments, these are overbalanced by a combination of painfully trite scenes (you have a pretty good idea what's going to happen when the three take a picnic near an inviting pond) and cumbersome dialogue ("Pandora's proverbial box had been opened, but more interestingly I don't think any of us wanted to close it.").
The actors supposedly had a great time making this movie. Too bad the audience doesn't have the same fun watching them. Stephen Baldwin has the annoying "party dude" down pat. Josh Charles manages to bring a little life and charm to his angst-riddled character. This is Charles' and Baldwin's second film together--they co-starred in 1993's deadly- dull CROSSING THE BRIDGE. Finally, Lara Flynn Boyle's performance vacillates between acceptable and awful--a fair description of the overall movie, actually.
There are very few romantic comedies that manage to successfully blend their lighthearted elements with intelligent examinations of issues such as the importance of intimacy and the difficulties in discovering one's sexual identity. THREESOME, by falling into the common trap of mistaking pretentiousness for substance, loses its way early on.
- James Berardinelli (blake7@cc.bellcore.com)
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