Two Girls and a Guy
This film is truly a reflection of its time. Using the age-old device of a two-timing man, James Toback has managed to turn traditional expectations on their heads and have a fresh look at attitudes towards relationships in the late nineties.
Robert Downey Junior (Chaplin, Natural Born Killers) plays Blake Allen; an actor who is struggling for work but has no difficulty playing multiple roles in real life. Somehow he has managed to maintain two separate relationships with two girls for almost a year without either finding out. That is until they accidentally meet on the doorstep of his New York apartment while both waiting to surprise him on his return from a trip to Los Angeles. Carla (Heather Graham, from Boogie Nights and Lost in Space) is sophisticated, reserved and beautiful, while Lou (Natasha Gregson Wagner, Lost Highway, SWF) is confident, sexy and streetwise. When they realise the deceit that has been going on, they break into Blake’s apartment and decide to make him try to explain himself.
On his return the girls’ actions range from angry to seductive in their attempts to work out what Blake’s motives were and where they now stand. Instead of being contrite and remorseful, Blake vainly attempts to wriggle out of this very messy situation without having to actually acknowledge his deceit. One of the things that Blake does admit is that there have been others on a casual basis in addition to Lou and Carla; surely making him one of the most exhausted men on the planet.
One disappointing sub-plot is Blake’s relationship with his mother which has distinctly Freudian overtones. It transpires that he has used her ongoing illness as an excuse to both women at times, and it becomes increasingly difficult to ascertain the true nature both of her illness and what exactly their relationship entails.
The film is set almost entirely in real time, and was filmed in sequence. Blake’s loft is the scene for 90% of the action which leads to all the concentration being on the characters and their relationships. This is both the film’s success and its downfall. While the dialogue is entertaining and well written, some of the revelations somewhat detract from the main plot. While they do raise some other interesting questions about relationships, monogamy and the evolution of love in the nineties they don’t attempt to provide any answers or even any new approaches. The two female characters, while well portrayed, are a little too indulgent towards Blake’s misdemeanours even when their own transgressions are taken into consideration. Overall it is an entertaining and somewhat thought provoking watch, but its resolution is strangely unsatisfying.
Uncle Psychosis
