So much average

One of the worst ways to make a cult movie is to set out to make a cult movie.

Very good movie overall, highly recommended. Most of the negative reviews don't have any merit and are all pollitically based. Give this movie a chance at least, and it might give you a different perspective.

Actress is magnificent and exudes a hypnotic screen presence in this affecting drama.

Three way is not a menage-a-trois film even though the cover makes it look like so. It actually has a good story, a good plot and really good acting. The movie was marketed the wrong way and that's why a lot of people are upset because they are expecting a soft porn film when in fact they got the real deal which is a feature length film with a couple of love scenes.The story is like this, A struggling man named Lewis Brookbank(Dominic Purcell) has a bad past but now wants a good future. He sees the opportunity and is eager to grasp it and live it with his present love or second love named Rita Caswell(Joy Bryant) of his life. This opportunity though seems to have become more of a nightmare when the plan does not go as planned.This movie has all the right elements for a good movie which is a good storyline with a good plot to carry it out plus a director with actors who know what they are doing.Don't expect for a soft porn flick but a good story on screen.

Extortion, sex, murder and none of your wildest dreams. This flick is based on Gil Brewer's early 60's pulp fiction WILD TO POSSESS. 3 WAY is close to congenial coitus...minus one. Forget about it. A hard luck sign painter(Dominic Purcell)overhears a couple plotting a kidnapping and possible murder all in the name of illicit love. He schemes up a way to foil the thing and make a sizable fortune in the process. Now enters a very serious blackmailer(Dwight Yoakam)and this tale becomes more muddled and darkly comedic. At times there is a something to look at and very little to talk about. Also in the cast: Gina Gershon, Desmond Harrington and Ali Larter. In my wildest dreams...Gershon with Larter and well...you know.

"3-Way" is not as good as the cover makes it look. The director's "hip" visual style is only obtrusive. For example, in the beginning we can't be sure if the action is taking place in a motel room or on a boat! But even when the pieces start falling together, the story only gets stupider. The dialogue is often idiotic and the plot is contrived ("I was in the right place at the right time") and convoluted; for a "plan" movie to work, you have to believe that the plan has at least some chance to succeed - the plan in this film seems doomed from the beginning. Dominic Purcell is a charisma-free lead, all the girls are pretty (especially Joy Bryant), but the best acting job by far is done by a really creepy Dwight Yoakam. (**)

Full disclosure here...I picked up this movie because I love to look at Dominic Purcell. So charismatic is this very attractive guy that he can make smoking sexy (and he does A LOT of it during the film). Believe me, an actor must have a high degree of sexiness to make me still like him when he smokes this much. And I must give the director credit, the sex (at times gratuitous but always fun) gives equal time to all genders...the women are sexy, the men are sexy, and each really seems to enjoy the act- this must be a difficult task to pull off, at least in a mainstream movie when the sex is not real. But I don't mean to overemphasize the sex in this potboiler. It is hot (although not as hot as it could be...), but, at times, it is actually integral to the plot. I will go topic by topic in my review... Acting: pretty darned good, except Ms. Gershon. She starts out with a bang, with one overheard scene (a nice touch by the intriguing writer), but she falters in an awful scene that attempts to capitalize on the untapped possibilities of Stockholm syndrome; but top honors have to go to Joy Bryant, in a thankless role that gives her some puzzling lines to deliver, some of which are confusing (very), at least until the denouement. Ms Larter need some work (despite some interesting work in fluff like American Outlaws and the Final Destination series), and she certainly cannot deliver some hardboiled lines like those after her sexual encounter with the kinda hot Desmond Harrington which deal with the problem of secrets, namely that no one can keep them. Mr Yoakam, as always, deserves better- he smolders with an odd sexuality that rivets the watcher as long as he is on the scene; he even makes pain believable. Directing: like I said, somehow the director makes the sex interesting for people of all sexes and sexual persuasions (I especially like Purcell's tattoos), but at times some of his scenes seem forced. The stand-out is the overheard scene between Harrington and Gershon (although, oddly, Ms. Larter can't pull it off)...credit the writer for this, which brings me to... Writing: some very interesting stuff (despite the dialogue between Larter and Harrington in their car toward the beginning- but perhaps we should blame Larter). The theme of overheard plans (however well-laid they may be) may be derived from the book (I don't know), but its commonness in the film is a reason I think this writer is smarter than the material he has been given- the script sets up events in a necessary manner which is often lacking these days; how many times have you said to yourself, why is this happening? This event does not necessarily follow from the last! There is a GREAT scene toward the end between Bryant and Purcell when they don't quite understand one another that is hilarious, but it is so subtle that it may be missed. The ending: well, despite some tantalizing dialogue, the ending is not so much a surprise as a relief. Everyone gets what they deserve, and the right people end up with one another. I just wish Yoakam's character had reached a more interesting end- at least we get one last look at Purcell on the beach. Perhaps he is more appealing to gay males, but, well, give him a chance, women! Overall, if you are a little drunk on a Fri night and want some sexual titillation paired with some degree of intellectual stimulation, you could do worse than this thriller. At least it holds together and provides a great deal of pleasure, even if it won't be on any Academy voter's list.