Two Girls and a Guy (1997)

Director:

James Toback

Writer (WGA):

James Toback (written by)

Release Date:

24 April 1998 (USA)

Genre:

Comedy | Drama

Tagline:

Thanks to his two girlfriends Blake is about to learn a new sexual position. Honesty.

Plot:

Two girls, Carla and Lou meet on the street outside a loft waiting for their boyfriends. In a short time...

Plot Keywords:

Loft | Break In | Bisexual | Two Girlfriends | Broken Window

Cast

Natasha Gregson Wagner	...	Lou
Heather Graham	...	Carla
Angel David	...	Tommy
Frederique Van Der Wal	...	Carol
Robert Downey Jr.	...	Blake

MPAA:

Rated NC-17 for a scene of explicit sexuality.

Runtime:

84 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Certification:

Germany:12 | USA:NC-17 (video release) | USA:R (DVD rating) | Canada:18A (Canadian Home Video rating) | Argentina:18 | Australia:MA | UK:18 | USA:NC-17 | USA:R (edited for re-rating) | South Korea:18

Filming Locations:

New York City, New York, USA

Company:

Fox Searchlight Pictures

Trivia:

The bathtub scene was almost entirely improvised.

Goofs:

Continuity: When the trio are gathered around the tub, Blake puts his hands on his face. They change positions in the next shot.

Quotes:

Blake Allen: What's this? This right here?
Carla: It looks like a broken window and a plant.
Blake Allen: It is a broken window and a plant but how did the window get broken?
Carla: It looks like the plant might have done it.
Blake Allen: Yeah, but I don't think the plant just came through the window by itself.
[he pauses]
Blake Allen: Did you throw the plant through the window?

Movie Connections:

Featured in Sex at 24 Frames Per Second (2003) (V)

Soundtrack:

Gloria - Cum Sancto Spiritu

Much deeper than it seems at first sight.

I think all the performances were very good, although Downey's overshadows his two fellow actors. As I watched, I laughed a lot. When it ended my first impression was that it is a very clever lightweight comedy. Since then, the film has made me think fairly deeply, a rare effect indeed from any film.

To date it poses two questions to me:

1-can a man/woman love two people at once (or is s/he a simple philanderer)?

2-is fidelity possible or desirable in the milieu of this film?

A last question is whether self-destructiveness is inseparable from the talent of actors like Downey and Robin Williams and others?

I have revised my first assessment of the film upward.