Reviews

Simon and Hanna have been together for twenty years, they've established the easy peace-that-follows-passion so common in relationships of a certain age. Simon and Hanna are happy. Not the fake-going-through-the- motions happy, but pretty content if not a little rut induced angsty. One day, while participating in a medical ethics symposium, Hanna meets genetic engineer, Adam, with whom she openly spars. She meets him again that night after she is stood-up by Simon at the theater. Meanwhile, Simon is distracted by those of his mother and his own health issues. For a third time, Hanna bumps into Adam, this time on a soccer pitch. They spend the day together drinking, seeing a soccer game, getting to know each other while Simon is being told by his doctor that he must be admitted to the hospital for immediate surgery. He is worried because he can't reach Hanna. While he is having surgery, she is beginning an affair. Hanna is there when he wakes-up and there while he is recovering. Simon is affected a lot by the surgery. I won't say what sort of surgery he had, but it can be quite affecting. Oh, the scene depicting the surgery is brief but pretty graphic. You've been warned. Simon is out one night at the local covered pool where he has an intimate, very intimate encounter with... Wait for it... Adam! Simon is confused, a bit startled and probably mostly curious. The three of them begin these affairs, cultivating new ideas about their sexual selves. Hanna and Simon also rediscover their sexual selves together. And that's just the first half of the film. You know from the set-up that there will come a reckoning, that the party won't last. When that moment comes, the three leads play it beautifully: the sudden sparks of recognition and piecing it all together are priceless. Where the film fails is in the editing. Shakespeare said it best, "brevity is the soul of wit." Some of the exposition could have been left on the cutting room floor. Surely any audience going to see this film could suss out the narrative. The use of the number 3 as part of the narrative falls a bit flat. Given the apparent love triangle, 3 would seem sufficient to reference just that. Where Tykwer works real magic is in his ability to make his actors go all-in. There is no trepidation or fear of laying it all bare before the camera. If you are a fan of the work of Whit Stillman, Wes Anderson or Noah Baumbach, you'll like "3." It's quite good.