Two Girls and a Guy (1997)reviewed by Benn "Where's the Humanity?" Farrell
"Two Girls and a Guy" is about Carla and Lou, two gorgeous women looking to surprise their actor boyfriends upon his return home. However, they quickly discover their boyfriends are actually the SAME boyfriend, two timing them behind each other's backs. The girls break into Blake's, the boyfriend, apartment to confront him when he comes home. They do and sparks start flying. However, Blake is a smooth talker, and in the process, somehow gets Carla to sleep with him, while Lou waits in the other room. The entire picture is set in Blake's apartment, minus the opening scene on the street outside. With this, the picture instantly has a theatrical feeling to it, rather than that of a motion picture. The hardwood floors of the location made so much noise for the actors, about 90 percent of the picture's dialogue are ADR, replaced in post-production. Robert Downey Jr. (Short Cuts) plays Blake and is very funny in the role. His attempts to talk his way out of confrontation is very well written and acted. Even his improvisational scenes show he still has SOME assemblance of talent. Heather Graham (Sidewalks of New York) plays Carla and does well to show her character has a lot more going on inside than she shows outside. Natasha Gregson Wagner (Urban Legend) plays Lou, and at first, she is stiff and shows her inexperience. As the picture goes on, Wagner starts to show she was worth casting. Writer/director James Tobak (Harvard Man, When Will I Be Loved) makes a lot of awkward choices in this work. He has a handful of unusual angles on the girls, leaving most of their performance to be given off frame. I can't figure out why he would to this. I'm not finding a reason for this choice of shots, but for whatever reason, that's how most of the girls' footage is. The movie runs only 84 minutes, but is feels like a full two hours. There is a point in act two when the picture comes to a near screeching halt of interesting banter and cornered a**hole boyfriend. From then on, the movie crawled into the third act and couldn't end fast enough for me. This is an interesting character piece, which probably should have been a stageplay, but as a work of filmmaking, "Two Guys and a Girl" is full of faults. I think girls who have been burned by a two timing boyfriend, and die hard indie picture fans will really get into this movie, but most would probably find it a snooze. One thing you guys should know, the picture is rated NC-17 for a very explicit sex sequence between Carla and Blake, including Carla getting head from this pitiful excuse of a boyfriend; interesting. Benn - Where's the Humanity?
This film is indie filmmaking at its low budgetest, and somehow it's thoughtful and somewhat enjoyable. However, it finds several places in its extremely simple plot to DRAG.