Threesome

Eddy (the wonderful Josh Charles for 'Dead Poets Society' - I wonder why we don't see him in more movies) moves into the dorms - only to get a roommate from hell, who is his exact opposite. While Eddy is serious, clean, quiet and shy, Stuart (Stephen Baldwin) is a messy, girl chasing little boy. The manage to find a way to live together, when Alex (Lara Flynn Boyle) moves into the other room in the suite - since her college record says she's a guy, not a girl. Stuart is attracted to Alex, while she's attracted ot Eddy, which soon discovers that not only is he gay, but he's attracted to Stuart... Sensing that sex would make their life together tough, they vow to avoid having it with one another (even though they scare all other suitors), and become close friends - so close, this friendship excludes every one else... But, they break their promise and have sex, in unlikely forms, and the 'Threesome' eventually break up...

This movie is more than sex and sexual discovery - it's also about friendship and its boundries. As Eddy, our narator, sees it, the Threesome meant to him more than sex - he feels that he developed true friendship with Stuart and Alex. At the end of the movie, he wonders how people as close as they all were during that year in college can lose their connection with one another. In the alternate ending scene (which is included in the DVD with or without Andrew Fleming's commentary) we can see how people who were close as can be can't have a conversation without uncomfortable silences a couple of years later... Eddy feels he still wanted this friendship even when Alex and Stuart were running away from it, and the only one who felt comfortable enough to admit he wants and needs it... Ths situation in the movie was taken to an extreme, but I think that looking back, most of us had friendships like that - close, but when they ended for the wrong reasons you had nothing to say to each other...


Bland, Hardly Titillating, Unconvincing 3-Way Romance   February 9, 2000
14 out of 27 found this review helpful

Little here worth watching except the backsides of the actors. And that's a shame, because the director seemed to be going for more, something like a realistic treatment of an attempted meaningful romantic relationship among a straight boy, a straight girl, and a gay boy. Doesn't sound like it would be easy to pull off, right? This flick won't convince you otherwise, with its less-than-convincing characterizations and strained efforts at humor. The characters are uniformly likeable to the extent that they are developed, but their development and growth occur only in the context of this unlikely triangular romance -- it's all they think about and talk about, as if they had no other concerns in the world. It's easy as viewers to recall the urgency and centrality of young loves/lusts, but there's just no sense of that here; the depth of character isn't deep enough to make it happen. And, lacking any other guiding purpose, the movie crawls to the inevitable unsatisfying ending. We could all probably say there were things we did in college that were experimental and helped us understand ourselves -- but that weren't worthy of big screen treatment. This was one of them. The flick gets only one star for entertainment, the other for hunky-boy Baldwin's dive into the lake.


Maybe a little close to home   June 8, 2005
Michael L. Wiersma (Springfield, MA United States)
10 out of 10 found this review helpful

This is an unabashed hyper-hormone, sexual-tension comedy filled to the brim with small truths and nostalgic college coming-of-age moments. If you didn't have friends like this in college (at least maybe a little) then you missed out.

This threesome is driven and largely controlled by one Lara Flynn Boyle, who is fantastic and energetic and believeable as the drama queen trying to get the gay guy while the straight guy pines away for her (and she gets to spurn his every advance.)

It isn't all about sex, although it underlies everything else; it is about friendship and support as you decide who you are and who you want to be. This is an almost embarrassingly accurate look at three dissimilar people who find companionship, fellowship, and support on their way to being, or becoming, "grown up."

The pace of this film is great, the editing and acting are good, and it's consistently funny. It makes you long for the time of food fights in the dining hall, throwing rotten food out the window, and all-night parties. It made me miss my college friends. If you're reading this, yes, this is about you.

Worth seeing whether you're in college or it's been awhile since you wore your cap and gown. Universal themes make this film pertinent to almost everyone. Recommended.


You can't help but fall in love with Threesome.   February 27, 2001
Jaime Hood (Bel Air, MD)
8 out of 12 found this review helpful

Meet Eddie, Stuart and Alex; three very different college students who end up as the unlikliest of roomates. They are Threesome, a hilarious, cool trio of friends mixed up in an impossible love/sex triangle. Their clashing personalities collide in a hysterical and sharp-written script that had me crying with laughter. But even amidst their crazy campus fun, they learn important lessons about sexuality and themselves that will stay with them forever. Joshua Charles, Stephen Baldwin, and Laura Flynn Boyle each bring these lovable characters to life. They compliment each other's eccentric personalities, even if they're not exactly thrilled to be stuck with each other at first. Threesome is an uplifting sexual comedy with a smart outlook on the surprising relationships that we may sometimes find ourselves in. It's a hip, quotable comedy that won't fail to make you laugh.


This would be one of the 10 I'd take to a deserted island   March 26, 2003
8 out of 10 found this review helpful

I love this movie. It almost frustrates me to read some of the negative reviews on this site, because most of the reviewers who doled out these bad reviews don't seem to even "get" the point of the movie at all. It's not about sex, it's not about love, it's about friendship... Apparently some of these people have never had friendships as close as the ones reflected in this movie, so they can't relate. But enough about them.

This movie is definitely for the open minded. I love the narration describing Eddie's feelings and thoughts throughout. I think this movie is intelligently written and each role was well acted. I couldn't have picked more perfect actors for the roles they played myself. Most of these actors aren't really known for their extraordinary acting talent necessarily, but they were perfect for this movie and for their individual roles.

Not a movie to watch with a date that you're just getting to know, due to the sexual content and constant innuendo. But it is absolutely hilarious, while still tapping into your emotions and possibly some memories of friends gone by. I'd even venture to say that if cheeseball comedy like Something About Mary and Dumb and Dumber turns you off and you're looking for something much more intelligent, but still hilarious, this is your movie. I don't recall burping and farting being the hightlight of this movie (thank God). Watch it, buy it, own it. Seriously...