Trois

Trois is a sexy thriller about the before and after-math of a threesome (two girls and a guy). The participants are a young Black married couple in Atlanta who seek to spice up their love life and an openly bisexual woman who wants to keep custody of her son. This film admirably attempts to explore the complex dynamics of monogamous sexuality, from sexual preference to sexual power. The gravest downfall is the attempt to combine too many twists and turns that don't pay off or gel well with the story's initial tone.

One of my friends rented this movie last year. Honestly, being an NC-17, we naturally expected more than what we saw. The scenes in this movie weren't enough to get an R rating. The plot was good, and it was a good script. However, the performances were poorly executed. The actress who played the wife was dull and dry with the delivery of her lines. However, the ending had a great twist, and this was a good film, especially being on such a low budget, but some of the acting was low budget as well. A 5 at most.

First of all, let me make one thing crystal clear. When I paid my money to see this movie, I didn't walk into the theatre expecting something worthy of Academy Award consideration. However, what I did expect was a story that had some semblance of logic (and perhaps a few cheap thrills). I also expected a film that in some way dealt with the often avoided issue of Black sexuality. But once again like several recent Black "thrillers," I was left disappointed. What's the deal with these independent filmmakers? You make a film that presents itself as a steamy erotic thriller, but with PG-rated sex and no nudity to speak of. What's the point? Audiences would have been better served by renting an old copy of FATAL ATTRACTION or even SHE'S GOTTA HAVE IT, than paying their hard earned money to see basically the same thing that you could catch for free on a network daytime drama. An erotic thriller without any steamy sex or nudity is like a western with no gunfight or a romantic comedy with little romance and no comedy. On another level, the poorly structured story makes absolutely no sense. Without giving away the ending, the writers set up things that don't pay off later in the script and "pay off" with things that were not properly set up. By doing so, they break a cardinal rule of any type thriller or mystery story by not playing fair. Also, the scenes are not arranged for maximum dramatic effect. It lacks the escalating tension that made FATAL ATTRACTION so effective in its examination of infidelity. There are also several subplots in the film which serve to trivialize important issues (e.g., physical abuse, child care). Additionally, the film relies too heavily on stereotypes, particularly as they relate to the lesbian/bi-sexual character of Jade. In terms of acting, Gretchen Palmer stands out with her over-the-top performance as Jade, which occasionally gave the film some much needed camp appeal. On the other hand, Gary Dourdan as Jermaine was weak. He's so cold and insensitive, one wonders how his wife, Jasmine (Kenya Moore in a typical B-movie performance) agreed to his "indecent proposal" in the first place. If independent filmmakers are going to compete with big budget studio fare such as FATAL ATTRACTION, they must be willing to "push the envelope." Instead, TROIS along with a series of other recent independently produced sexual thrillers insist on playing it safe by toning down the sex and the more provocative elements in their films. For what reason, who knows? Hopefully, some other filmmaker will "step up to the plate" and really deal with Black sexuality rather than skirt around it. On a positive note, despite it's many flaws, TROIS is still better than Rob Hardy's anemic first feature, CHOCOLATE CITY. The film is also to be commended for its small scale, but reasonably effective grass-roots marketing champaign. As a gesture in support of Black independent films, I have delayed submission of this critique until the film has all but left the theatres. For those who haven't seen it, check it out on video and express your own views.

This is absolutely the worst film I've ever seen. Not only does it

contain some of the worst acting, dialogue and directing ever

burned onto celluloid, it is nothing but pure trash. It amazes me that money was actually used to fund this project. I can't imagine how anybody thought this was something worth

making based on the horrendous script and premise. Soloman K. Smith delivers probably the worst performance in

history as does Gretchen Palmer. This is embarassing. NEVER EVER watch this movie.

Gretchen Palmer does not deserve this - although some may feel different seeing her try to act in this. I do believe I have seen her being way better than here - no pun intended. Must be a combination of script and set conditions I imagine.

Sometimes you also have to take on roles, you do not really believe in - just to pay the rent. Might have been one of those situations. Interestingly enough, this seems to have been succesful enough to spur 2 sequels. Both showing way more skin than this does. Which I didn't mind by the way - it is the acting and the dialog that is so cringeworthy, that it almost hurts physically.

So never mind the erotic scenes where all the "best" parts are covered. "Clothed" scenes can be quite erotic too - and I would argue the main love scene is just that. The scene that seemingly gets the whole thing going on. The whole thing that could have been avoided, if ... but the last twist almost kind of saves the whole movie. Still even that never really reaches any height it imagines it does.