Three Businessmen

Didn't really know what to expect from 3 Businessmen, but it's a typical bizarre Alex Cox-style story. Very enjoyable, particularly the silent punchline. Go see it!!

Two businessmen meet in an abandoned restaurant of the old rococo hotel their staying and decide to take a walk in order to find booze and food. One is English and the other one is American but their surnames are similar if translated… They start walking in the streets of Liverpool, often stopping in bars and restaurants but never being able to put a bite in their mouth. They are continually talking about society and politics and economy. Sometimes they get along with each other, sometimes they don't. Anyway, from a point on, their walk takes a surrealistic turn…

Alex Cox obviously directed this movie just to keep busy. The screenplay feels written by some smart-ass looser who thinks he is Samuel Beckett. Subtlety is nowhere to be found. The cinematography is atrocious. It's a film full of pretense. Cox thinks he makes an important social statement when in fact his view is banal and childish. He tries to experiment, but he fails, not only because he has produced an ugly film, but because he doesn't understand that experimental cinema is meant to take the art a step further. It's not meant to be used as a cheesy effect. Well, he doesn't seem to understand the substance of experimentation just like he didn't seem to understand the substance behind cult when he made Repo Man. He thinks he's above that stuff and he can easily use them to do whatever he wants. That's the reason why he never gets into the whole thing. Experimentation though, is not easy. It requires true vision, not some pretentious need to just differ. It also requires knowledge of the medium and while Cox has that knowledge, he uses it just to prove that he can do it too.

But to be fair, there are moments where the whole joke seems to work and actually provoke some laughs (mostly because of the performances). The scene, in which the two businessmen meet while waiting for the waiter in the restaurant, is well shot (and terribly light) and is maybe the only proof that Cox is a good director.

Art dealers meet at an odd, obscure hotel in London. Subtle humor as our lead bennie reads ( and tosses away) various books in his room. The multi orgasmic man, urban voodoo, the seed and the sower, the doubters companion, things you never knew existed. When they can't seem to get a meal in the hotel restaurant, they go for a walk, to find a late meal. But as they explore, they have various adventures. At one point, they end up in paris! Later, without even noticing, they have ended up in tokyo. But they still can't get anything to eat!! After some odd, bad, choppy edits, they seem to be in mexico. Where the strangest thing of all occurs. And some things are explained. But you'll have to see it for yourself. It's an odd one, and most people probably won't have the patience to see it through to the end. It's a doozie of an ending, if you make it! Directed and acted by alex cox. I had previously seen a couple of his films, where he acts and directs, and they were surprisingly good! This one is more of a random, trippy adventure.

Alex Cox says this picture isn't "Repo Man," and he's right. It's a neatly constructed and unashamedly intelligent little masterpiece that transports his career to a new plateau of excellence and maturity. Unpretentious and uncompromising, it's sure to be an instant classic.

Alex Cox is one of Britain's best kept secrets, and this is one of his best movies. In fact I'd probably say it ties with 'Repo Man' as his most consistent and entertaining. 'Three Businessmen' is an absurdist fable that shares some of 'Repo Man's surreal humour. As Cox's production company hints Bunuel is a good reference point, as are the odd stories of Flann O'Brien, Kobo Abe or John Sladek.

The idea is simple - two businessmen, one American, played by Cox regular Miguel Sandoval ('Get Shorty', 'Blow'), and one Englishman (Cox himself) meet in the deserted dining room of an expensive hotel in Liverpool. They chat while waiting for service, and when it looks like that isn't forthcoming, they go on a quest for food. Finding the kitchen deserted, and likewise the rest of the hotel, they venture outside to look for somewhere to eat. And so their "adventure" begins.

They walk, talk, agree, disagree, irritate and bond with each other while never quite getting the meal they desire. Things never go to plan, they get sidetracked, misled, confused, and go up various dead ends and strange situations. While still thinking they remain in Liverpool they end up traveling around the world. A plot description doesn't do this movie justice, the real story is in the telling.

'Three Businessmen' (and yes, there is a third one, eventually) is a wonderfully inventive movie that held me until its unexpected twist ending. It's a real gem, and my admiration for Alex Cox grows with every movie of his I see. He is a true original and we need more film makers like him!