The Robert Downey Jr Film Guide
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The Robert Downey Jr Film Guide |
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Two Girls and a Guy (1998) |
Summary |
Two women discover they have the same boyfriend. |
Direction |
James Toback |
Downey Factor |
Very High. |
Character |
Blake Allen, a two-timing actor/musician who attempts to charm his way out of problems |
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 (longer in NC-17 version) |
Dies, Gay or Villain |
No, No, Possibly. |
Other Actors |
Heather Graham, Natasha Gregson Wagner |
Connection |
Heather Graham in Bowfinger. James Toback's Black and White, The Pickup Artist and in The Outsider. |
Location |
Lower Manhattan |
RDJ Says |
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 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 ... 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 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?" ... 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 ... 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. |
Lit Reference |
Hamlet, Prince of Denmark by William Shakespeare Viewers of this film are treated to a bit of Hamlet by Blake. |
Release |
April 24, 1998 |
Availability |
The R-version is available on video (NTSC) and on DVD in region 1. The NC-17 version is available on video in NTSC and PAL formats. Also on Blu-Ray for some mysterious reason. |
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 |
43% Fresh | 35 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. |
2 Reasons to See It |
1. Hear his rendition of You Don't Know Me. 2. See his first on-screen sex scene (with a woman) ever. |
Overall |
Low-budget, stage play-ish, but still an intriguing must-see performance. |
If You Like It |
You might also like The Pickup Artist (1987), One Night Stand (1996), off off-Broadway plays |
Photos |
Video |