note : some may consider portions of the following text to be spoilers . be forewarned .
james toback 's return to directing after a eight - year layoff , two girls and a guy , is a film which is comprised , more or less , of just that : one guy , blake ( robert downey jr . ) ; two girls , carla ( heather graham ) and lou ( natasha gregson wagner ) ; one primary setting ( blake 's absurdly spacious bachelor apartment ) , and a great deal of dialogue . embracing a near real - time approach , this is a highly theatrical feature that completely hangs upon the performances of its three actors and the quality of the dialogue written by mr . toback for his bantering characters .
fortunately , the film 's cast is up to the challenge , and the wordy exchanges between the triad of characters , while admittedly variable , are occasionally wickedly amusing .
the film 's setup is fairly generic in nature , and opens rather unpromisingly .
we meet self - possessed blonde carla and feisty brunette lou , both waiting outside a soho loft .
as they engage in idle chatter , it is revealed that they 're both waiting for their respective boyfriends to return from the airport , and it does n't take long for them to come to the realisation that they 're being two - timed by the same guy .
more indignant with him than catty with each other , the duo break into blake 's loft and await his arrival for a confrontation .
it 's when blake returns to his abode where the film hits its stride .
played with magnificent bombast by mr .
downey jr .
, blake is a cad , all right , but a captivatingly dynamic , blusterous , and stealthy piece of work that bursts onto the scene and raises the stakes to new heights .
it 's fascinating to watch this character in his natural habitat ,
and perhaps the film 's best choice was to have his two girlfriends scamper off into hiding upon his return , allowing us to size up blake not with his interactions with others , but by his own innate behaviour .
whether he 's flamboyantly behind his piano in a rollicking rendition of vivaldi , or on the phone leaving messages to his beloveds ( carla , lou , and his unseen sickly mother )
, it 's never less than wildly entertaining and insightful .
though at this point i almost hoped the film would transform into a one - man show -- a typical afternoon in the life of blake , if you will -- carla , and then lou , reveal themselves , and the sparks begin to fly .
( one of the great touches in the film is how blake , when startled by carla 's unannounced appearance , begins to both verbally and physically backpedal even before he realizes that the cat 's out of the bag . ) double - teamed by the understandably aggrieved women ( who are more smirkingly inquisitive than ferociously vengeful -- they want a justification for his ongoing hypocrisy ) , an increasingly - flustered blake weakly defends himself with apologetic and even self - righteous declarations against their verbal jabs .
surprisingly delightful in the waltz of scathing witty banter
shared by its trio of characters , two girls and a guy concludes its first sequence with an unexpected apoplectic act of such outrageous audacity that it seemed nothing was off - limits for this film .
however , it 'd be unfeasible to attempt to string along carla and lou 's outrage to full feature - length , and it 's as the movie gradually transforms into the sharing of exploratory profundities on the nature of fidelity and relationships that it slowly but surely begins to unravel .
the dialogue becomes less and less engaging and clever , the film 's tempo loses its liveliness , the dynamic between the characters evolves in unconvincing fashion , and several sequences fall flat .
subtle and not - quite - subtle allusions are made (
a poster of jules et jim hangs prominently on the wall ) , and secrets are revealed which barrel the film toward an uncompelling weepy finale .
one key turning point in the film is the kinky sex scene between blake and carla .
two girls and a guy was embroiled in a bitter , long - running dispute with the mpaa with regards to this scene -- contractually - obligated to deliver an r - rated film , mr .
toback was forced to resubmit fourteen scaled - down versions of the steamy interlude before the mpaa withdrew their nc-17 rating in favour of an r -- and while admittedly titillating , the net effect of the vignette on the film 's thematic narrative is rather dubious .
if anything , two girls and a guy serves as a showcase for the phenomenal talents of mr .
downey jr . , whose versatility is put to the test in this film .
he plays the gamut from indignant to humbled , from self - assured to disconcerted , yet his acting gears shift so smoothly as to not be registered .
it 's a wonderful performance in a role custom - tailored for him ;
mr .
toback wrote the screenplay in four days shortly after mr .
downey jr . was arrested on drug charges , and it 's hard not to see echoes of reality seeping into his character -- in a monologue to his mirrored reflection ,
blake 's self - chiding to " get [ his ] shit together " is disquieting in its resonance .
while
mr .
downey jr .
's
showstopping performance is undoubtedly the primary strength of the film , both actresses are solid in more broadly - observed roles .
ms .
graham is quickly becoming one of america 's more daring actresses , involving herself in three successive risky projects -- two girls and a guy and boogie nights are both quite sexually frank , while lost in space has a screenplay penned by akiva goldsman .
she 's quite appealing here , playing a character at once both dainty and sultry .
meanwhile , ms .
gregson wagner initially portrays lou with such an unwarranted spunk that audiences are likely to find it either annoying , or , like me , endearing .
she tones it down substantially as the film progresses , but i found her more fun to watch as the artificially excitable chatterbox .
the film was reportedly shot in eleven days , filmed mostly in sequence , and the resultant artifacts of this rapid shoot are evident throughout .
two girls and a guy has an agile , spontaneous sort of feel , and one senses that mr .
toback encouraged a good deal of improvisation from his three actors .
while the film could be transposed directly to the stage more or less intact , it does n't feel constricted ; the expansive apartment setting is well - used to vary the background , and mr .
toback allows his camera to wander and linger on his characters in an effective manner .
two girls and a guy falls short of its potential ,
but thanks to some stellar work by mr . downey jr .
, it 's still often an enjoyable , bitingly funny romp , particularly as we watch the surprisingly - resilient blake evasively try to rationalize his behaviour and even turn the tables on his girlfriends .
"
i 'm an actor , " he tells them at one point , using the ol' tried - and - tested occupational - hazard defense .
" actors lie .
"
but not , they all seem to agree , denzel washington .
Output: P