Lilith Likes to Watch - Threesome

Title: Threesome Year: 1994 Starring: Lara Flynn Boyle, Josh Charles, Stephen Baldwin Director: Andrew Flemming Synopsis: A girl named Alex is by mistake housed with 2 guys, Stuart and Eddy, in a college dorm suite. After initial problems they become friends. Stuart has the hots for Alex, Alex for Eddy and Eddy for Stuart. Can it work? - Via IMDB Lilith's Notes: I tried to watch this film through squiggly lines. Yes, really.

"I just don't understand why anyone would do a lesbian version of Oedipus Rex."

In the time before The Internet, sneaking a peek at naughty stuff was a rite of passage for young boys and girls. I've only heard legends of finding a mythical nudie magazine in the woods. One time, my neighbour found a stash of Playboy magazines and we giggled at the naked girls on display. We were both girls. I usually got by on nature shows, but once I found a knock-off Heavy Metal comic book abandoned in the hallways of my school. It had boobs so it was good enough for me. And, of course, who hasn't squinted and tilted their head at the scrambled channels in hopes of some clarity, just for a second.

That is how I first watched Threesome. Threesome is the movie behind which I cultivated the Lilith Likes to Watch aesthetic.

Now, I am an adult and I can watch whatever I want, squiggle free!

This movie is fine. I built it up in my mind as some transgressive, edgy film that walked the line between mainstream movie and filth. In truth, there's nothing especially out there in this film, except for the titular threesome, of course. The threesome last for less than a minute, I'm pretty sure. I don't feel like timing it.

The characters all work well off each other. They have good chemistry and come across as friends who care about one another. The dialogue is something that I would hate in other movies. It's all very snooty and pretentious, but they're in college, at the right age for it, and also the pretension breaks every now and again and they become regular people. They are occasionally encountered by people as precious as the Threesome think they are and see it for the ridiculousness it is, and they mock it. The lack of self-awareness works. They're young. They're smart but dumb.

The performances were good, I laughed a few times, it was an enjoyable little bit of '90s era edge.

Over all, it felt like a more naked version of a Kevin Smith film. If this movie was made today, I think it would receive a lot of sneering. I think the character of Alex, who keeps insisting Eddy isn't gay, would go down like a lead balloon. One does not push one's sexual ideals and identity onto another person. We didn't really feel that way in the '90s. We know better now.

I give it a 3 because anything else just seems wrong. This movie is begging for a 3 and I will oblige.

LILITH'S SCORE: 3/5

NEXT TIME: Let's continue our 1990's sexiness with Wild Things.