Supposedly an examination of the pros and cons of monogamy and love in general, this essentially one-set film desperately tries to be provocative, but comes off as not much more than an annoying waste of an hour and a half. While the set-up has some potential — two women discovering to their shock that they're dating the same guy — the material that follows falls flat on its face. Deciding to forgo the obvious comic possibilities of such an arrangement, the film's dramatic moments are ludicrously bad.
Reportedly filmed in less than two weeks and on a less than one million dollar budget, writer and director James Toback (1987's "The Pick-up Artist" -- with Downey, and the Oscar-nominated writer of "Bugsy") was obviously hoping to capture the raw, spontaneous and obviously combustible nature of a triangular relationship. Instead, the low budget and quick shooting schedule makes the movie feel like an experimental film school project that should have stayed in the classroom.
The biggest problem lies with the characters and their motivation. Even if one could accept that these two women wouldn't wonder why their boyfriend could only see them for half a week at a time (each got three days with one day presumably to rest in between), their reaction to their discovery is never at all believable. Sure they get mad and there's some yelling and screaming, but the women never show one sign of jealousy toward the other.
It's as if there's an immediate female bonding created by them being hurt by the same guy. Whenever a plot involves a triangular relationship, sparks and conflict are certain to fly as the inevitable two-way alliances constantly shift among the involved parties. That's not to be found in this film that essentially becomes a straightforward verbal battle of the sexes. They are the innocent victims while he's the cheating pig.
That is, except for the fact that they then admit to behaving the same way as him (having outside sexual affairs while supposedly in a monogamous relationship). While that's supposed to be a surprising revelation, it only serves to deflate any reasoning behind the women's anger, and it also immediately destroys any sympathy we may have felt for them. From that point on, they just have to decide how to sexually divvy up their responsibilities amongst one another. Then, the movie takes an odd turn and abruptly ends, leaving the viewer obviously happy that this mess has concluded, but curious about whether they ever resolved anything.
There's also some material dealing with Blake's unseen, and ill mother -- apparently the only woman he truly respects and wholeheartedly loves -- that's assumedly supposed to explain his messed up psyche. As a subplot, though, it doesn't do anything but conveniently allow Toback the momentary opportunity to break up the threesome for some more intimate, two-way conversations.
In fact, despite Toback's efforts to jumpstart the production utilizing various techniques, including the too obvious use of the song "You Don't Know Me" in several scenes, and cinematographer Barry Markowitz's constantly active camera work -- that tries to find something interesting to focus on in this one-set locale -- this film runs out of gas long before the midway point of its short hour and a half run time.
Oddly constructed in that one-set stage design, the characters seemingly and illogically can't leave -- that is, of course, unless they have to make a phone call when they do disappear (for the above reasons) but then quickly return. Although one can understand the women sticking around long enough to enact revenge upon their boyfriend, or at least to get a satisfactory explanation for his deeds, they hang around as if they can't or don't want to leave.
If one is going to confine these characters to essentially one locale, the film had better feature some sharply written, clever dialogue. Yet, unlike films written by playwright David Mamet that have terrific, but occasionally "too good to be true" speeches, Toback's script is flat. Although there's lots of talking that eventually leads to some yelling and screaming, there are few sparks to be found here.
The only bright spot in the whole production is Robert Downey Jr. ("One Night Stand" and an Oscar-nominated performance in 1992's "Chaplin") who delivers a flamboyant, and always interesting performance. Although his character is completely unlikeable, you can't help but watch him, and his weasel-like reactions to the women's allegations provide the film with its limited, but much needed comic relief. A moment where Blake confronts himself in a mirror (about shaping up his behavior) is interesting and more than a little disturbing, and makes one wonder if perhaps it's based on some similar real-life moments. Overall, Downey delivers a full- blown, and occasionally over the top performance (true to the character he's playing) that's intriguing to behold.
The versatile, and recently quite busy actress, Heather Graham ("Boogie Nights," "Lost In Space"), and Natascha Gregson Wagner ("Lost Highway) have more limited and less flamboyant roles and don't bring anything unique to their characters that any number of other actresses could also have delivered. Wagner plays the spunky one with the machine gun delivery of dialogue -- and is the stereotypical male fantasy bisexual character interested in a menage a trois, while Graham only gets to play the upset woman who is determined to get the truth from Blake.
Despite Downey's bravado performance, there's nothing else in the film that warrants a recommendation. Feeling and looking like a filmed rehearsal for a stage play, it might have worked better in front of a live audience, but plays horribly in the (movie) theater. While the brief controversy about the film's rating may peak a few moviegoers' interests (they reedited the lone sex scene to lose the NC-17 status), don't expect this dud to last very long. We give "Two Girls And A Guy" a 2 out of 10.
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