Two Girls and a Guy

Starring:Natasha Gregson Wagner, Heather Graham, Angel David, Frederique Van Der Wal, Robert Downey Jr.
Director: James Toback
Studio: 20th Century Fox
Product Type: DVD

Editorial Review:
Amazon.com
Substitute "Gals" for "Girls" and you might mistake this for one of those romantic-comedy trifles they cranked out during World War II. Nothing could be further from the truth, though the film does have a lot to say about modern romance, and you'll laugh--while also gasping--frequently as the film unreels over a riveting hour and a half.

Two very different but equally smashing young women find themselves sharing the sidewalk outside a Soho apartment. Both blond Carla (Heather Graham, pre-Boogie Nights) and the dark-haired Lou (Natasha Gregson Wagner, daughter of Natalie Wood) are waiting for the same guy, an actor named Blake (Robert Downey Jr.), who--unbeknownst to either--has been sleeping with both of them for the past year. They break into Blake's pad and trade can-you-beat-that? anecdotes of his duplicity while waiting for him to show. Show he eventually does, and the mind games begin.

All three players are terrific, with Wagner enjoying a slight edge over indie veteran Graham because her character is fiercer and she's a new screen presence. But it's Downey who rules, partly because director James Toback wrote the script in direct response to seeing his old pal (Downey had starred in his 1987 movie The Pick-Up Artist) in a jail-house news feed after his first well-publicized arrest on drug charges. Actually, Downey's most amazing scene--a long soliloquy in front of a mirror--was largely improvised; it's a passage of monumental self-deception, self-revelation, and sheer genius. As exasperating as it is compelling, Two Girls and a Guy is one of the most provocative films of the '90s. --Richard T. Jameson
Description
Robert Downey Jr. is Blake Allen, an arrogant self-absorbed actor who gets a double dose of girl trouble in this wildly provocative "look at love, lust and sexual commitment in the `90's." (Los Angeles Times)

Amazon.com

Substitute "Gals" for "Girls" and you might mistake this for one of those romantic-comedy trifles they cranked out during World War II. Nothing could be further from the truth, though the film does have a lot to say about modern romance, and you'll laugh--while also gasping--frequently as the film unreels over a riveting hour and a half.

Two very different but equally smashing young women find themselves sharing the sidewalk outside a Soho apartment. Both blond Carla (Heather Graham, pre-Boogie Nights) and the dark-haired Lou (Natasha Gregson Wagner, daughter of Natalie Wood) are waiting for the same guy, an actor named Blake (Robert Downey Jr.), who--unbeknownst to either--has been sleeping with both of them for the past year. They break into Blake's pad and trade can-you-beat-that? anecdotes of his duplicity while waiting for him to show. Show he eventually does, and the mind games begin.

All three players are terrific, with Wagner enjoying a slight edge over indie veteran Graham because her character is fiercer and she's a new screen presence. But it's Downey who rules, partly because director James Toback wrote the script in direct response to seeing his old pal (Downey had starred in his 1987 movie The Pick-Up Artist) in a jail-house news feed after his first well-publicized arrest on drug charges. Actually, Downey's most amazing scene--a long soliloquy in front of a mirror--was largely improvised; it's a passage of monumental self-deception, self-revelation, and sheer genius. As exasperating as it is compelling, Two Girls and a Guy is one of the most provocative films of the '90s. --Richard T. Jameson

Description

Robert Downey Jr. is Blake Allen, an arrogant self-absorbed actor who gets a double dose of girl trouble in this wildly provocative "look at love, lust and sexual commitment in the `90's." (Los Angeles Times)

Customer Reviews:

An Excellent Film If You Don't Mind Thinking A Little Bit.......2007-03-31

Why does Downey Jr. lie to the two girls? Here's my take on it. Not because he couldn't get both of them without lying: after all, neither of the girls are married to him, and he could've openly had two or three semi-serious girlfriends and a few groupies also as a bachelor and up-and-coming star-on-the-rise actor starting to get steady work. He lied because he wanted not just superficial sex but two serious and involved relationships at the same time, two real girlfriends at the same time, almost like bigamy; he didn't lie to get the girls to physically put-out, he lied to get them to spiritually commit a deeper part of themselves that they otherwise wouldn't. So when he says that he loved both of them equally (or almost equally), he pretty much means it; and when he had said to each girl that other girls now disgust him, he really meant that too, in the spiritual sense that is about all other girls except the two main ones he was involved with. He may have had a few mainly physical encounters but spiritually and romantically he's basically tied to these two women, one of whom will eventually have to go because of time constraints or a slightly higher level of incompatibility. The same would obviously apply if a girl had willingly put herself in this rather flattering dilemma (as the poster for Truffaut's `Jules et Jim' on the wall constantly implies, a film in which there was no deception but which ended tragically because Jeanne Moreau refused to give up her irrational desire to be loved by more than one man until she turned off both of them).

What I think Toback is trying to do is show people ways of communicating they haven't considered or have been programmed to overlook. He's trying to say that this situation doesn't have to end up negatively or in some kind of overblown melodrama, though it's definitely prime material for farce. Every attempt at taking it to that cliche area of hurt and shattered and devastated feelings, and overblown psychotic role playing imposed by half-baked and prejudiced societal rules is shown to be not only ridiculous but transcendable by only a little strength and street-or-book-or-other-wise perspective. Of course, the Natasha Gregson Wagner character is the one that shows the most strength because she gets the short end and refuses to stoop to fighting for her man with Heather Graham; not only that, she doesn't even break relations with Graham and asks her to call her. . In 99 out of a hundered other films as soon as Graham and Downey start getting it on in that other room, Gregson Wagner would've broken a whole bunch of Downey's bric-a-brac-furniture, stormed out the apartment cursing and slammed the door, or, barged in on them and had a tantrum wanting to kill both of them. But is that kind of impulsive over-reaction all human beings are capable of? No, and Toback shows that sex outside a serious relationship, even if it's with someone in an equally serious relatoinship who is a direct threat, is not the end of the world and it can be dealt with intelligently and calmly, not through some ridiculous tantrum.

What Toback is laying down here in this film isn't anything new but basically a variation on what many widely read books of the late '60s and early '70s dealt with, books like `Pairing,' `Open Marriage,' etc. They dealt with the fact that sexual desires don't go away after marriage or the attainment of a serious relationship and should not be restricted because that creates more problems than it solves. Desires are then only willingly & voluntarily not acted upon by the parties concerned because the time spent pursuing them could be better and more efficiently spent in the main relationship which is already a source of much joy. They emphasize the importance of the strength of the main relationship so that even if the desires are acted upon physically, that's where it usually ends and the level of intimacy achieved doesn't seem to be worth it compared to the main relationship, therefore further reinforcing the main bond. In other words, a positively re-inforcing circle instead of vicious one. If there's no strong relationship aside from the strictly physical to hold a man and a woman together, then that couple has no business pretending they have a real relationship anyway and traditional restraints will make cheating more attractive, not less. The problem, of course, is always TIME, all serious relationships in the end end up pretty much monogamous (in spirit if not exactly 100% in physical fact) because a serious relationship takes work, real work, and there is simply too much time and energy required to carry on even as little as two serious love affairs at once on a high level. They based these theories on research into why so many traditional marriages failed. People sneer at these theories now without even stopping to think but very little has changed and much has been reversed since the days of the sexual revolution. It may even be worse now than the 50s and 60s. If you take a look around society at traditional marriages that have strict restrictions, you'll probably find that for every relatively good relationship that hasn't gone sour yet, there are at least 10 happy-to-be-mediocre lukewarm ones maintained for the sake of appearances that can be seen through in two seconds, and 10 more that are already dead and headed for divorce or have gone beyond the stultifying effects of a 'closed relationship' to cheating and deception to find some 'happiness-fix' on the side. In Toback's film, Downey's deception leaves Natasha Gregson Wagner out in the cold but she's strong enough to not give too much of a damn about someone like Downey whose lying has put her in a position to get hurt because she happens to be a tad less interesting to him than Heather Graham who has just reclaimed him by giving him sex; she's strong enough to not show her hurt for his satisfaction or to stoop to wanting to fight for the little weasel with Graham. She stays above it, talks things over a while, wishes them the best and moves on. Not realistic? If we're talking in general terms absolutely not; but in individual terms, absolutely yes. There are probably 9 or 10 people out of a hundred strong enough to pull a Natasha Gregson Wagner exit. And the value of Toback's film is that it shows that rather than the 90 ways how it ought to end in farce and total disaster.

Therefore, despite some flaws, Toback's film is highly recommended because it breaks cliches at every turn in the dialogue and tries to promote intelligent ways as opposed to culturally pre-programmed ones of dealing with painful dilemmas. All you weak people out there with your love-hate over-reaction programming and jealous rages, watch and learn how to be more sophisticated, strong, considerate, compassionate, hip, cool and classy. Who said 1960s ideals are dead?

Three very talented people.......2006-08-26

I can understand a lot of people not liking this modern morality play but I loved it.

Basically the story is about two girls waiting to surprise their boyfriends who have been working away from home. As they talk to each other they find that their ten-month relationships have been with the same guy and the rest of this movie is about resolving the situation.

If you saw Tape and like it, you'll want to see Two Girls and a Guys. This is sexier but not on a prurient level and some might find that unsatisfying. I normally do but when the acting and writing is this good, sexiness and eroticism can be potent without having to be explicit. Of course it takes talent but the three principles here have a ton.

Graham and Wagner are sorely underrated for their acting prowess. They are two of the best out and it's easy to see here. I couldn't possibly say enough about Downey. He's the best there is but he even shines more then usual as we get a taste of his singing, playing and songwriting abilities not to mention the ability to gain a great deal of sympathy with an unsympathetic character. If he's not a genius than he's a professional of the highest order and virtually anything he does warrants great merit. Even crap like Less Than Zero is made watchable because of his portrayal and he's come a long way from there.

I had the VHS Two Girls and a Guy for years before I finally stuck in the machine and watched it the other day. I was well rewarded for my wait with an impeccably played sexy, complex adult comedy/drama.

Waste of Time.......2006-06-29

There is no acting in this film. All it is is 80 minutes of conversation between three people which sometimes becomes so unbearable , that i wonder why I just didnt switch the movie off!!

Two Girls, A Guy and a complete waste of time.......2006-03-20

Love Heather Graham and that is why I bought this movie. The "explicit sex scene" is not explicit and in fact, is not much of a sex scene. Great idea and could have been a great movie. Talent was there, opportuinity was there, but all wasted.
Totally out of reality as to how this would have gone down as well. It would be every guy's fanatasy if the two beautiful women he was "doing" found out he was canoodling each of them and when they find out all they do is chew him out for not being honest about it then say, "I know, why don't we all three date. We can be a triple rather than a couple." Yeah, that happened with all the women I ever dated.

Boring!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!.......2006-02-20

This movie is extremely boring. This definitely qualifies as one of the worst movie in my list aside from 'The Dukes of Hazards' ( Simpson, & J.Knoxville)and 'The Avengers' (Sean Connery). If you want to bore yourself to death, this would be perfect for you.... The actors were quite talented (Robert Doney Jr., Heather Graham), but the story is pretty shallow...The actors remained in the house the whole time, and it was pure dialogues/arguments about cheating.

NINA HARTLEY'S Guide To Threesomes - Two Girls & A Guy

Average customer rating:

NINA HARTLEY'S Guide To Threesomes - Two Girls & A Guy

ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

Nina Hartley's Guide to the Ultimate Sex Party DVD
Nina Hartley's Guide to G-Spot Sex
Nina Hartley's Guide to Multiple Orgasms

Product Features:

How To Sex Guide
Educational
Instructional

ASIN: B000PFXSL8

Product Description

You're not alone-- Threesomes are the most commpn group sex fantasy! Explore the art of seduction with Nina Hartley and stars like Nicole Sheridan and her husband Voodoo, the hottest three ways specialists in the business. Plus, in a fantasy sequence, Mika Tan, Shy Love and Alec Knight demonstrate that the key to the best possible three way is everyone getting involved! They'll show you how it's done. Set your sites on having a relaxed, sensual, great time with this excellent guide. Neither you nor your partners will be dissappointed!

Average customer rating:

An Excellent Film If You Don't Mind Thinking A Little Bit
Three very talented people
Waste of Time
Two Girls, A Guy and a complete waste of time
Boring!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Two Girls and a Guy
Starring: Natasha Gregson Wagner , Heather Graham , Angel David , Frederique Van Der Wal , and Robert Downey Jr.
Director: James Toback
Manufacturer: 20th Century Fox
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

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ASIN: B000F7CECA
Release Date: 2002-05-21

Amazon.com

All three players are terrific, with Wagner enjoying a slight edge over indie veteran Graham because her character is fiercer and she's a new screen presence. But it's Downey who rules, partly because director James Toback wrote the script in direct response to seeing his old pal (Downey had starred in his 1987 movie The Pick-Up Artist) in a jail-house news feed after his first well-publicized arrest on drug charges. Actually, Downey's most amazing scene--a long soliloquy in front of a mirror--was largely improvised; it's a passage of monumental self-deception, self-revelation, and sheer genius. As exasperating as it is compelling, Two Girls and a Guy is one of the most provocative films of the '90s. --Richard T. Jameson

Description

Customer Reviews:

An Excellent Film If You Don't Mind Thinking A Little Bit.......2007-03-31

Three very talented people.......2006-08-26

Waste of Time.......2006-06-29

There is no acting in this film. All it is is 80 minutes of conversation between three people which sometimes becomes so unbearable , that i wonder why I just didnt switch the movie off!!

Two Girls, A Guy and a complete waste of time.......2006-03-20

Boring!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!.......2006-02-20

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