Three Way (2004)

Undescribable Perfection

So much average

A story that's too fascinating to pass by...

Although I seem to have had higher expectations than I thought, the movie is super entertaining.

OK, I admit that the only thing that led me to this movie was seeing the words "Dominic Purcell". Knowing how phwoar! he looks I thought I'd give it a whirl. You see a lot of him in the movie (well most of him actually in the early scenes) so in that respect it was a very satisfying experience.However the continuity must have been checked by an underpaid short-sighted person with short term memory loss and a paper bag over his head. When the gun-toting murderous brother kidnaps the 'hero' what is that random sticking plaster on Lew's arm all about? Not to mention the visible/invisible shirt. The continuity diverted my attention from the unlikeliness of some of the plot twists, or was that the whole idea? Anyway I kinda liked the end. Throughout the movie people are constantly physically assaulting Lew, (even the girlfriend) but he never offers violence back, and at one point he apologises for raising his voice to her. Frankly I'd have given her a slap for some of the things she does, and I'm a woman. I guess the lack of violence on his part is a deliberate movie plot issue.So hip hooray for him getting a break and us getting another topless moment from Mr Purcell at the end, although up till the credits I was expecting her to screw him over on the money front. And another cheer for both genders getting their kit off, and not just the females.

"The participation of Gina Gershon is minimum, basically to give her name to the credits." No offense Ms. Gershon, but DUDE from Brazil obviously must be a big fan of yours, "Watch out" - I had to actually "IMDB" Gina, b/c I could not place her in anything. I came to this movie b/c I saw that Ali Larter produced - 'VERY HOT LADY' if you are reading this Ali 'Just one date, please?!!' I did see that Dwight Yoakum is in this movie and I may just rent it since it also sounds good. The ten line minimum must be done away with, it is really annoying. Please do not block my account!!!!! I'm seriously not trying to pad my comment, its just that I feel that 1000 words and/or 10 lines is way too much.

Yes, I myself, a huge Gina Gershon fan, was quite disappointed.The one reason I rented this movie was because of her and I guess she obviously had some free time or was offered a nice monetary payday. The biggest issue I had about 3 Way was the lack of concentration and focus regarding the continuity. The black pullover ski cap with the bright and very noticeable yellow smily face that was on Gina during her introduction to Dominic Purcel.(Who?) The face was visible as the hat was pulled up to her nose. The very next scene the face was gone but the ski cap was still on and pulled up to the same spot. Whether the hat was turned around or replaced, this was a very sloppy and negligent error in principle shooting and post production.

Full disclosure here...I picked up this movie because I love to look at Dominic Purcell. So charismatic is this very attractive guy that he can make smoking sexy (and he does A LOT of it during the film). Believe me, an actor must have a high degree of sexiness to make me still like him when he smokes this much. And I must give the director credit, the sex (at times gratuitous but always fun) gives equal time to all genders...the women are sexy, the men are sexy, and each really seems to enjoy the act- this must be a difficult task to pull off, at least in a mainstream movie when the sex is not real. But I don't mean to overemphasize the sex in this potboiler. It is hot (although not as hot as it could be...), but, at times, it is actually integral to the plot. I will go topic by topic in my review... Acting: pretty darned good, except Ms. Gershon. She starts out with a bang, with one overheard scene (a nice touch by the intriguing writer), but she falters in an awful scene that attempts to capitalize on the untapped possibilities of Stockholm syndrome; but top honors have to go to Joy Bryant, in a thankless role that gives her some puzzling lines to deliver, some of which are confusing (very), at least until the denouement. Ms Larter need some work (despite some interesting work in fluff like American Outlaws and the Final Destination series), and she certainly cannot deliver some hardboiled lines like those after her sexual encounter with the kinda hot Desmond Harrington which deal with the problem of secrets, namely that no one can keep them. Mr Yoakam, as always, deserves better- he smolders with an odd sexuality that rivets the watcher as long as he is on the scene; he even makes pain believable. Directing: like I said, somehow the director makes the sex interesting for people of all sexes and sexual persuasions (I especially like Purcell's tattoos), but at times some of his scenes seem forced. The stand-out is the overheard scene between Harrington and Gershon (although, oddly, Ms. Larter can't pull it off)...credit the writer for this, which brings me to... Writing: some very interesting stuff (despite the dialogue between Larter and Harrington in their car toward the beginning- but perhaps we should blame Larter). The theme of overheard plans (however well-laid they may be) may be derived from the book (I don't know), but its commonness in the film is a reason I think this writer is smarter than the material he has been given- the script sets up events in a necessary manner which is often lacking these days; how many times have you said to yourself, why is this happening? This event does not necessarily follow from the last! There is a GREAT scene toward the end between Bryant and Purcell when they don't quite understand one another that is hilarious, but it is so subtle that it may be missed. The ending: well, despite some tantalizing dialogue, the ending is not so much a surprise as a relief. Everyone gets what they deserve, and the right people end up with one another. I just wish Yoakam's character had reached a more interesting end- at least we get one last look at Purcell on the beach. Perhaps he is more appealing to gay males, but, well, give him a chance, women! Overall, if you are a little drunk on a Fri night and want some sexual titillation paired with some degree of intellectual stimulation, you could do worse than this thriller. At least it holds together and provides a great deal of pleasure, even if it won't be on any Academy voter's list.