Two Girls and a Guy (1998)

Summary

Two women discover they have the same boyfriend.

Director

James Toback

Downey Factor

Very high, he's in almost every single scene.

Character

Blake Allen, a two-timing actor/musician who attempts to charm his way out of a major relationship problem he created.

Looks

Could have been more clean-shaven, otherwise good.

Performance

Occasionally odd, heavily improvised.

Line

I'm short now, too? I'm like five-ten.

Sings

You Don't Know Me, Cum Sancto Spiritu from Vivaldi's oratorio Gloria.

Love & Sex

The plot is about his 2 concurrent relationships, with a number of sexual references and one nudity-free scene with Heather Graham.

Dies, Gay or Villain

No, no, possibly.

Cast

Heather Graham, Natasha Gregson Wagner

Connection

Heather Graham in Bowfinger.

James Toback's Black and White, The Pick-Up Artist and in The Outsider.

RDJ Says

[The mirror scene in] Two Girls and a Guy, those were Toback’s loose words put together in his assessment of this character’s self-damnation, but it ends with a clown. I learned a lot from that one take. That was an end-of-the-day, we’ve got a mag of film left, here’s a dumb idea, and yet I learned as much from that as anything I had ever done up to that, with the exception of Chaplin. It’s that Spencer Tracy approach — stand there, be honest—with a little undercutting at the end. It was a gauche way of trying to express that — but I was relatively young ... It was totally intuitive. I knew Toback would give me the freedom to let my spirit go. That's the risk directors have promised me I could take before, but this is the first time I've actually been allowed to do it. Toback was so flexible and intelligent and hilarious that it didn't even feel like work ... I don't think you can get better than having a loose idea of what the scene is. Like I remember Two Girls and a Guy, Toback basically was too busy at the OTB [gambling parlor] to fully write the scenes and we improvised and we were all in a good space and it was really kind of the best of both worlds. But then, sometimes there is a higher order and it goes back to if something is well written and you rehearse it to the point where it goes back to being spontaneous again, it's really cool. And it also depends if you've got a great actress, you can make things seem really natural, interacting with her or him ... What I loved about the erotic scene in Two Girls and a Guy was that it's quite specific, but it actually reveals very little flesh ... Watching what Heather and I did was very unnerving to me and I'm certainly not a prude. The script purposefully didn't specify what the love scene should be—so Heather and I sort of decided the right way to go and let it happen ... I think fidelity and monogamy are entirely possible, but you just have to make that decision personally that you don't dirty the waters, even in suggestion, you know?

Lit Reference

Hamlet, Prince of Denmark by William Shakespeare
Viewers of this film are treated to a bit of Hamlet by Blake.

Time & Place

Present day (1998) New York.

Gossip

When Robert Downey Jr hosted SNL in 1996 while on a week "pass" from rehab, James Toback approached him at the show after party about this movie.

Availability

Released in theaters 24 April 1998. Available on region 1 and region 2 DVD (Germany) and, for some mysterious reason, also Blu-ray. Note that the original theatrical NC-17 version was only released on VHS.

DVD Detail

Director James Toback and Robert Downey Jr did a commentary track. May not be on all versions of the DVD, check before you buy.

Foreign Titles

Argentina: El infiel (The Unfaithful)
Brazil: Uma Paixão Para Duas (A Passion for Two)
Croatia: Dvije Djevojke i Jedan Muskarac (Two Girls and a Man)
Finland: Kaksi Tyttöä ja Poikaystävä (Two Girls and a Boyfriend)
Germany: Ein Mann für Zwei (A Man for Two)
Israel: Double Surprise (English translation)
Portugal: Duas Mulheres e Um Homem (Two Women and a Man)
Russia: Amorous Triangle, Two Girls and a Fellow (English translation)
Spain: Un Chico Para Dos (One Boy for Two)

Rotten Tomatoes

53% Fresh | 37 Reviews

Critical View

Jack Matthews, Los Angeles Times: Any thorough collection of this decade's most bizarre movie moments will have to feature the scene in which star Robert Downey Jr. mocks and lectures himself with his face nearly pressed against a bathroom mirror ... Downey is a spectacle of psychological ruin ... It's a weird and, in some ways, darkly funny scene.

The Guardian: Downey is quite astonishing in this entrance scene, convincing us that he could attract these women and dominate the stage as a singer, a comedian or Hamlet.

Roger Ebert, Chicago Sun-Times: There is a show-stopping scene when [Blake] looks at himself in a mirror and warns himself to get his act together.

Does It Hold Up

Sort of. It may be the most ridiculous thing about this movie is that it was rated NC-17. Today, it would probably be an R and would run uncut on most cable and streaming platforms. The director has been (rightfully) cancelled into oblivion for being a total creep and as in all of the movies, they did together, Downey plays a creep.

2 Reasons to See It

1. Hear his rendition of You Don't Know Me.
2. See his first big on-screen sex scene (with a woman) ever.

Overall

Low-budget, stage play-ish, but still an intriguing performance.

If You Like It

You might also like The Pick-Up Artist (1987), One Night Stand (1997), off off-Broadway plays

Photos

Video