Uma Paixão Para Duas

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.

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.

To say that this movie is shallow, or unrealistic, is to miss the point. While it certainly has a lot to say about sex, and especially sexual fidelity, the point of the film is not that at all, but that concerns of sex are not truly the most important factors in a relationship. While loyalty and honesty certainly are, forgiveness is still a virtue, and lying about sex is not the same as lying about feelings. Though I, of course, do not agree with what the female characters in this movie did, at least the movie makes the oft-overlooked point that sex isn't everything, a point seldom made in movies, and often made in life. Though it is certainly not an exceptional movie, it is worth seeing, and an interesting look into the privileged status sex has attained in our modern society.

Toback's backbone of a script is great- it sets up the finest young actor of my generation (debatable- but worth saying) Downey Jr. is masterful in adlibbing and improvising. He accomplishes what Brando failed to do in Last Tango in Paris. Downey is real. His problems, his inner angst, his troubles all surface. This is like being with him. His magic and charm are entrancing and enchanting. Pretty cool. Worth a watch late at night- intense though.

This movie is probably the worst film I've ever watched. The sleazy concept of Robert Downey, Jr. trying to juggle between two girlfriends is horrendous. The graphic scene that gave this film an NC-17 rating was unnecessary. This film is highly degrading to women because it tries to pass them off as submissive sex maniacs who want nothing but threesomes and sexual satisfaction. Aside from that, the entire movie takes place in Downey's apartment, so you get bored with the atmosphere. The acting is on the level of softcore porno acting, and the script was obviously not present during the filming.