Two Girls and a Guy

Convict/thespian Robert Downey, Jr. tops his frenzied role in "Natural Born Killers" with another manic Tasmanian Devil-style performance. It's the funniest of the year, an actor's nightmare (how far do you go when you can do whatever you want?), but also the quintessential Downey, Jr. persona.

Heather Graham is my baby, she just doesn't know it yet. Just kidding--truth be told, she excels in the part of one of Downey Jr.'s girlfriends. Wagner nearly matches her in the role of the other.

Toback's direction is stagey (what else can you do with one set?), but his writing is on fire. Sometimes, you snag bits of the actor's riffs and laugh at what you can get your hands on. At other times, you sit back and let it flow over you--this is high-speed Jack Kerouac, coupled with Whit Stillman's keen ear for American bourgeois speech patterns. Wagner and Graham test each other on Downey Jr.'s lovemaking speeches, tying a noose for him before he even arrives, later Downey Jr. verbally abuses and repairs himself in his bathroom mirror--highlights of a dynamite script.

1998 was the year for actors and actresses, and many notables (and a few unknowns) did landmark work: Jim Carrey in "The Truman Show", Jane Horrocks in "Little Voice", Warren Beatty in "Bulworth", John Travolta and Kathy Bates in "Primary Colors", Roberto Benigni in "Life is Beautiful", Bill Pullman in "Zero Effect", and Robert Downey Jr. in this one. James Toback, who also penned the wretched (and similarly themed) "The Pick-Up Artist" in '87, is back on track. With "Bugsy", "The Gambler" and this film on his record, I eagerly anticipate his next picture.

I recently rented this movie, and having found it in the comedy section of the video store, I thought I was in for a few laughs. Instead I ended up with a head-ache. Listening to the characters constantly bicker and scream at each other was like watching re-runs of the real world. The story-line was bland and exceedingly predictable.The characters were greatly undeveloped-why does Natasha Wagner's character seem so in love with Blake and care so much about him and what he does when she turns out to be a bisexual who is more interested in women anyway? It was an all too convenient way to get rid of her. I found Heather Graham's acting to be very unconvincing and unnatural. Her lines sounded too rehearsed and flat. Natasha Wagner's acting was better, but not by much. Robert Downey Jr.'s part was well acted but, like the other characters, not very interesting. While I am a big Robert Downey Jr. fan, I can't help but dislike this movie greatly.

I watched it last night and thought it was brilliant. Robert Downey is just stunning, and the final scene of the movie floored me. I''m not sure how to use the word pathos properly but that final scene exudes it. But before that the whole movie is an excellent examination of an actor who can't stop acting and the two girlfriends and mother he loves. Very witty and exciting to watch. I loved it.

Two Girls and a Guy consists of an extended conversation between three people; a guy played by Robert Downy, Jr and two girls played by Natasha Wagner and Heather Graham. Both young ladies have been Downey's lover over the past year, and through that time each believed they were his one and only. Unfortunately they both show up unannounced at his loft apartment to 'surprise' him and discover the charade. The discovery occurs in the first scene and what follows is a verbal confrontation between the three in which they discuss love, sex, commitment, truth, yadda-yadda.

I'm not knocking it; the movie is really very good. The three actors work very well together in what is sometimes fine improvisation. Definitely worth the rental when you are in the mood for something different.

First off his is a very interesting movie and it brings up unique ideas all and through out most of the running time. Robert DOwny jr. Heather Graham and Wagner, all perform their parts well and with feeling as well as realism (somewhat). However, there is just one little thing that will either break this movie or get looked over due to the great performances which why in the world the two girls stayed. I was able to look over it because it lead to some interesting diolgue of which no character really had the upperhand but the fact that they stayed to understand why they were cheated is one (if only) of the most unrealistic aspects of this movie. Of course maybe this story came to be by the writer asking himself "What if someone really wanted to know why they were cheated on?"

p.s. the very explicit love scene, I beleive, was done very well. It was not presented in an overly romantic manner and instead shown in a more raw style which was very beleivable.