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Two Girls and a Guy by James Toback
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DVD Cover InformationActor: Angel David, Frederique Van Der Wal, Heather Graham, Natasha Gregson Wagner, Robert Downey Jr. Director: James Toback Cinematographer: Barry Markowitz Writer: James Toback Editor: Alan Oxman Producer: Daniel Bigel Producer: Michael Mailer DVD: Region Code 1 Audio: English (Original Language), Dolby Digital 2.0 Surround; English (Subtitled); Spanish (Subtitled) Format: Anamorphic, Closed-captioned, Color, Dolby, DVD-Video, NTSC, Widescreen Picture Format: 1.85:1 Running Time: 84 minutes DVD Release Date: 2001-06-05 Audience Rating: NC-17 Studio: Fox Searchlight Pictures
Movie Reviews of Two Girls and a GuyMovie Review: Typical Toback Summary: 3 StarsCarla (Heather Graham) and Lou (Natasha Gregson Wagner) are two beautiful women who have never met and didn't think they had anything in common until one fateful day in New York. Both women are standing outside a sprawling loft when they get into a discussion about what pigs men are after both have just been hit on by one rather forward guy whose girlfriend catches him chatting up are two leading ladies. Lou does most of the talking describing her dream of a boyfriend Blake (Robert Downey Jr.). Blake is an actor and he can talk anyone into "buying a house without a roof." "Sounds irresistible" Carla replies. After more gushing from Lou something doesn't sit right with Carla. She realizes that her boyfriend also an actor sounds a lot like Lou's love and both women realize that Blake is stepping out with both of them at the same time. They break into his loft and wait for him to return where they plan to confront him and demand answers. Once the women break into the loft this film becomes like a stage play (a comparison that Toback hates as evidenced by his commentary track) taking place in one location and with a lot of talking. The acting has to be good to keep your interests with a film like this and fortunately it is. Graham is beautiful and great as the more self assured and forward of the two women but Wagner is given more of the funnier dialogue and has several rapid fire monologues. Of course Downey has the most difficult role having to be sympathetic and charming explaining his deception to both ladies. He is good though not perfect throughout. He is obviously playing Toback which he has done before to better effect in their previous collaboration The Pick Up Artist. Downey does have several funny moments though such as when he convinces the girls of what a great actor he is by playing Hamlet and when Graham asks him not to refer to her by name he replies " What am I supposed to call you, Timmy?" Of course Toback explores the same raw sexual material that he has explored in all of his work most notably the debate over ownership of the phallus that he first introduced in his debut film Fingers. Basically its eighty four minutes of talking that is occasionally funny, sometimes uncomfortable and truthful but ultimately leading to an ending that doesn't quite work. I would recommend that you check out the Pick Up Artist which is Downey's and Toback's first collaboration. It is PG-13 tame for Toback and is a sweet romance with Molly Ringwald as the object of affection and with a great supporting cast including Dennis Hopper, Harvey Keitel, and Danny Aiello.
Summary of Two Girls and a GuyRobert 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) They're as different as they are beautiful, but Carla (Heather Graham) and Lou (Natasha Gregson Wagner) have more in common than meets the eye. Each thinks she has the world's greatest boyfriend - until both realize they're talking about the same guy! Sparks fly when the two girls discover Blake's deception and team up to confront their lying, two-timing lover. 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
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