Two Girls and a Guy
with Natasha Gregson Wagner, Heather Graham, Robert Downey Jr.
Written and Directed by James Toback
by Michael McCarthy
The latest film from writer/director James Toback begins with Heather Graham waiting outside an apartment building, presumably for “a guy.” Along comes Natasha Gregson Wagner. After a dispute with an obvious womanizer just reeking of arrogance, the “two girls” engage in a bit of conversation, soon discovering that they have the same boyfriend. Once inside his oh so hip loft, they discuss further and realize said boyfriend is an even bigger bastard than the womanizer they just dealt with outside. When the boyfriend (Robert Downey Jr.) comes home, an inevitable confrontation occurs and we spend the rest of the film with the three as they find themselves engaged in one dispute after another, trying to lay blame and escape it when what they really want to know – to understand – may be something bigger than any of them (and certainly their relationships). You know, the elusive answer to the whole monogamy-can-it-truly-exist question.
Although music is occasionally used, the majority of the film is simply the three talking (read: arguing) with the natural sounds of the apartment as pseudo-score. This, combined with scenes running over 10 minutes, provides an effect not unlike seeing a stage play. You truly feel as though you’re there in the apartment, watching their sad lives turn into a mess right before your very eyes.
The film’s title alone establishes a bit of intrigue. When I first caught it at the Boston Film Festival, I overheard a few people wondering aloud if it weren’t a porno. While you’d have to be an absolute moron to truly believe they’d screen a genuine X-rated flick at such a fest, you can’t deny the sexual implications of the title. And so the audience is lead to wonder from the very beginning if the two girls and their guy aren’t going to resolve things with a threesome. (“Menage á trois, I believe it’s called…”) This hampers one’s viewing of the film by taking away the surprise we’re supposed to experience when certain, um, developments present that as an actual possibility. However, the film digs much, much deeper than any sexual encounter, so it ultimately doesn’t make much difference.
As a great fan of Toback’s Harvey Keitel film, Fingers, I found Two Girls and a Guy to be a real treat. It certainly lacks the violence, and is an entirely different genre of film altogether, but that tone and style which garnered Toback praise for Fingers is undeniably present here. Much more so than in, say, his previous film with Robert Downey Jr., The Pick-Up Artist. However, I simply can not describe Toback’s style. It’s certainly dialogue/character-driven, but it can’t be compared to any of the masters of that subgenre, except to say that Toback’s is different. It’s his own. And pleasingly so.
Performance-wise, nobody disappoints. Heather “Rollergirl” Graham is impressive as always, sometimes sweet and sometimes hard as nails. Natasha Gregson Wagner is just plain yummy, though I suspect female viewers will find her character fairly annoying, being that she’s taken on the sort of role usually reserved for Rose McGowan (see Scream and The Doom Generation). As for Robert Downey Jr., I stopped trying to figure out if he was stoned while making this after a mere twenty minutes, so that would seem to indicate that his performance is absorbing. Hell, I actually felt bad for the bastard by the time it was over. I don’t even feel bad for Robert Downey Jr. in real life.
The one major fault of Toback’s film is that neither of the female characters are terribly developed. We know Downey’s character is an actor who sings and plays the piano, that he’s a real mama’s boy, and that he’s a big time liar. But what do we know about the women? There are some discoveries – including a scene with startling revelations – but it would have been nice if little things about them would have been revealed here and there throughout. Oh well, you can’t expect a film written in four days and filmed in eleven to be any better than this. On the contrary, it’s still better than most films written in eleven months and shot in four.
