Three To Tango
With art house fare making thoughtful and highly respected works about the homosexual lifestyle, it comes as both odd and insulting that Warner Brothers and moneymen Village Roadshow would finance such a decidedly unfunny comedy. Working with large gay stereotypes in the name of "humor", Three To Tango is the type of film, like the nauseating In And Out, that will appeal to mainstream audiences thirsty for a lifestyle film that's about five years-old in jokes and characters.
Matthew Perry stars as Oscar Novak, a ambitious architect who is on the cusp of attaining a very important client, Charles Newman (The Practice's Dylan McDermott). Witnessing a moment of affection between Oscar and his partner (Oliver Platt), the client mistakes the staunchly heterosexual Oscar for a homosexual. Asking Oscar to keep an eye on his mistress (Scream's Neve Campbell) while he's not around, Charles has no idea that the two are falling in love, and Oscar cannot believe that now everyone thinks he's actually gay.
Like an episode of Three's Company, Tango plays with very over the top humor and situations. The moment you see someone with a pail on their head, banging it against a wall, you pretty much understand then and there that you're screwed for the next 100 minutes. Tango is never funny, only once in awhile attaining a mediocre comedic pulse.
Rather disturbingly so, Matthew Perry manages to climb out of this mess unscathed. I like him so much from his Emmy-worthy work on Friends that seeing him play a Chandler-type character again in Tango is very welcome. Without the great writing on Friends to help him out, Perry is left to his own impressive, but tiring, mannerisms and comedy instincts. Coming off his rather underrated Almost Heroes work, I still believe that Perry has a future in features. Just ones that don't require such hyperactivity.
Campbell and McDermott are both stuck with roles that don't suit their personal talents as well. My faith in Neve Campbell dissolves with each new film she does. She has yet to fully drop her annoying acting tics and gestures. There's a good actress in there somewhere, proven time and again on Campbell's lovely TV series Party Of Five. McDermott has to play the heavy here, and due to either bad storytelling or last minute editing, he is left with a role so thin that it comes across as a minor miracle that he would even take the part. Both actors are better off on their respective great TV shows.
Bothering me the most about Tango is it's odd chic factor. Like a loaf of bread left out for a year, Tango is moldy and indigestible. It's swing dance music score and opening credits come at a time when that fad has been played out (actual proof of a higher power). The rather 1950's stereotypes of gay men is both appalling and out of date. Inundated with such positive images of gay adults nowadays, Tango's reliance on erect pinkies and "I'm no homo!" humor is just not worth it. The whole film is terrible, but the moral of the story is both frightful and passé.
Director Damon Santostefano has a interesting visual palette. The film bops and swings along rather competently. The problem is with the story and the actors. I would be lying if I said I wasn't intrigued to what his next film will be. I wish him luck to find a better project
Three To Tango is basically the typical Hollywood "easy" comedy that should appeal to the loyal few out there who can fall for this tripe time and again. I don't recommend Three To Tango to anyone looking for a solid comedy, and I wouldn't recommend Three To Tango to anyone with a conscience either.------1/10
With art house fare making thoughtful and highly respected works about the homosexual lifestyle, it comes as both odd and insulting that Warner Brothers and moneymen Village Roadshow would finance such a decidedly unfunny comedy. Working with large gay stereotypes in the name of "humor", Three To Tango is the type of film, like the nauseating In And Out, that will appeal to mainstream audiences thirsty for a lifestyle film that's about five years-old in jokes and characters.
Matthew Perry stars as Oscar Novak, a ambitious architect who is on the cusp of attaining a very important client, Charles Newman (The Practice's Dylan McDermott). Witnessing a moment of affection between Oscar and his partner (Oliver Platt), the client mistakes the staunchly heterosexual Oscar for a homosexual. Asking Oscar to keep an eye on his mistress (Scream's Neve Campbell) while he's not around, Charles has no idea that the two are falling in love, and Oscar cannot believe that now everyone thinks he's actually gay.
Like an episode of Three's Company, Tango plays with very over the top humor and situations. The moment you see someone with a pail on their head, banging it against a wall, you pretty much understand then and there that you're screwed for the next 100 minutes. Tango is never funny, only once in awhile attaining a mediocre comedic pulse.
Rather disturbingly so, Matthew Perry manages to climb out of this mess unscathed. I like him so much from his Emmy-worthy work on Friends that seeing him play a Chandler-type character again in Tango is very welcome. Without the great writing on Friends to help him out, Perry is left to his own impressive, but tiring, mannerisms and comedy instincts. Coming off his rather underrated Almost Heroes work, I still believe that Perry has a future in features. Just ones that don't require such hyperactivity.
Campbell and McDermott are both stuck with roles that don't suit their personal talents as well. My faith in Neve Campbell dissolves with each new film she does. She has yet to fully drop her annoying acting tics and gestures. There's a good actress in there somewhere, proven time and again on Campbell's lovely TV series Party Of Five. McDermott has to play the heavy here, and due to either bad storytelling or last minute editing, he is left with a role so thin that it comes across as a minor miracle that he would even take the part. Both actors are better off on their respective great TV shows.
Bothering me the most about Tango is it's odd chic factor. Like a loaf of bread left out for a year, Tango is moldy and indigestible. It's swing dance music score and opening credits come at a time when that fad has been played out (actual proof of a higher power). The rather 1950's stereotypes of gay men is both appalling and out of date. Inundated with such positive images of gay adults nowadays, Tango's reliance on erect pinkies and "I'm no homo!" humor is just not worth it. The whole film is terrible, but the moral of the story is both frightful and passé.
Director Damon Santostefano has a interesting visual palette. The film bops and swings along rather competently. The problem is with the story and the actors. I would be lying if I said I wasn't intrigued to what his next film will be. I wish him luck to find a better project
Three To Tango is basically the typical Hollywood "easy" comedy that should appeal to the loyal few out there who can fall for this tripe time and again. I don't recommend Three To Tango to anyone looking for a solid comedy, and I wouldn't recommend Three To Tango to anyone with a conscience either.------1/10