Three Way

Yes, I myself, a huge Gina Gershon fan, was quite disappointed.The one reason I rented this movie was because of her and I guess she obviously had some free time or was offered a nice monetary payday. The biggest issue I had about 3 Way was the lack of concentration and focus regarding the continuity. The black pullover ski cap with the bright and very noticeable yellow smily face that was on Gina during her introduction to Dominic Purcel.(Who?) The face was visible as the hat was pulled up to her nose. The very next scene the face was gone but the ski cap was still on and pulled up to the same spot. Whether the hat was turned around or replaced, this was a very sloppy and negligent error in principle shooting and post production.

Some truly stupid behavior (excused, in part, by every criminal in this movie being a rank amateur) hampers an otherwise passable crime movie about sloppy blackmailing, sloppy kidnapping, and not-always-sloppy plots within plots. Despite the foolish actions, the dialogue and performances are good, especially those of Dominic Purcell and Gina Gershon. Ali Larter looks fantastic, and the locations are nice even if the time-lapse scenery jumps get a little tiresome by movie's end.

Worth a look for fans of the genre, but by no means the soft-core porn flick some posts here (and the title - I wish!) suggest. Well, one scene, and no, it features neither Gershon nor Larter.

Lew (Dominic Purcell) is a carpenter with a past, who accidentally hears the conversation of two lovers in a car in an isolated spot about a kidnapping of a woman of a wealthy local family. He architects a plan with his girlfriend Rita (Joy Bryant) to steal the ransom from the couple, but things do not work how planned. "3-Way" is a erotic and sexy film-noir, with a very reasonable story and very beautiful actresses. There are many plot points and double-crosses, and I found it interesting. However, the commercial conclusion spoils the film. The director and the writer should have seen the masterpiece "Body Heat" and offer an end more suitable for such amoral story. The participation of Gina Gershon is minimum, basically to give her name to the credits. My vote is six.

Title (Brazil): "Seqüestro, Chantagem e Morte" ("Kidnapping, Blackmail and Death")

"3-Way" is not as good as the cover makes it look. The director's "hip" visual style is only obtrusive. For example, in the beginning we can't be sure if the action is taking place in a motel room or on a boat! But even when the pieces start falling together, the story only gets stupider. The dialogue is often idiotic and the plot is contrived ("I was in the right place at the right time") and convoluted; for a "plan" movie to work, you have to believe that the plan has at least some chance to succeed - the plan in this film seems doomed from the beginning. Dominic Purcell is a charisma-free lead, all the girls are pretty (especially Joy Bryant), but the best acting job by far is done by a really creepy Dwight Yoakam. (**)

I had never heard of Three Way, but when I was at Hollywood Video, I noticed the film and saw that Gina Gershon was in it. I like her, so I decided to go ahead and pick up the film; so I watched it last night and I was really disappointed. First off, Gina was in the movie for barely 5 minutes, the plot had potential, but most of the actors ruined the movie for me, I mean, absolutely none of the characters were at all likable. The main character, Lew, wasn't even a cool anti-hero, he just seemed to complain too much. The film wasn't very well shot and it just seemed like it was more of a chore and a movie that most of the cast and crew just wanted to get through. I also do not mind sex in a movie, but some of the sex scenes were just plain unnecessary and didn't add anything to the supposed story.

Lew is a guy who just complains so much of how badly life is treating him, his wife has been murdered and he got rid of her body with her lover's as well, instead of going to the police. But he's moved on, has a new girlfriend, and they are both in debt. One night he over hears a couple plotting to kidnap a woman who has a rich family. The couple has been having an affair, and it turns out that the guy is kidnapping his wife and is expecting a million dollars, but Lew wants that money and has other plans in mind for them.

Three Way isn't the worst film I saw, the beginning of the film wasn't so bad, it had enough potential, but there were things that were left unexplained. Like we see Lew go onto the boat where his wife and her lover were killed, he has a gun, was he intending to kill them or scare them or what? The scene between Lew and Florence where she was trying to seduce him didn't make much sense, I know what it was, I got the scene, but the whole story of that wasn't needed. I just think that the film could've been made better, or at least had a better cast, Gina's talent was very much wasted on this stupid film.

3/10