THREESOME
A film review by Steve Rhodes
Copyright 1995 Steve Rhodes
RATING (0 TO ****): * 1/2
THREESOME is one of those movies where you must be able to suspend disbelief from the start; otherwise, the movie has no chance of working. Here we have 2 men and a woman who are assigned to the same room in a coed dorm, but are unable to get reassigned. Sure. Actually, it was made plausible enough in the movie (it is actually a suite with a private single (woman), a private double (men), and a shared bath) that suspending disbelief turned out to be easy for me.
The premise of the movie is that person A is attracted to person B, B to C, and C to A whereas B is not attracted to A, nor C to B, and nor A to C. This simple equation gets much more complex as the movie advances. All along, they are all quite good friends and have great times together.
The show has several points to commend it. The plot is quite intriguing. The character of the woman (Lara Flynn Boyle best seen in RED ROCK WEST) is well written and well acted. It is easy to get swept up in some of the scenes and have vicarious fun along with them. Boyle's smile and physical emotions were well done and catching.
On the other hand, the guy's parts were poorly written, especially the handsome, dumb jock type character (Stephen Baldwin). Baldwin needs to take some acting classes rather than relying on getting roles because of his good looks and his famous brother. The other guy played by Josh Charles was mediocre. I did not believe either of the male characters.
With the same plot, but a much better script writer (Andrew Fleming), a recasting of all of the roles except for Boyle, tighter editing, and perhaps a different director (Andrew Fleming), this movie could have worked since it actually had a lot of possibilities. It was not a bad movie, but did not come close to what it could have been.
THREESOME runs only 1:33, but seems longer. It is rated R for the seriousness of its material I guess. I can not recommend it as constructed although it had good potential. For Boyle's acting and energy, I award it * 1/2.
**** = One of the top few films of this or any year. A must see film. *** = Excellent show. Look for it. ** = Average movie. Kind of enjoyable. * = Poor show. Don't waste your money. 0 = One of the worst films of this or any year. Totally unbearable.
REVIEW WRITTEN ON: April 9, 1994
Opinions expressed are mine and not meant to reflect my employer's.
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