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Fortunately, The Threesome avoids that sort of ickiness in favor of a wiser and wilier romantic comedy of the old school indie sort. This is a movie that embraces the messiness of life and suggests there is more to romance than that first kiss or the best laid plans for happily ever after.
Anchored by three compelling performances, especially from the reliably charismatic Deutch and a pleasantly beleaguered, Millennial Job routine by Hauer-King, much of the humor is derived from the energy these three inject into the proceedings. Early on it is a bit like a ‘60s sex comedy for the Tinder era, with all three parties playing types, albeit Connor and Olivia being the most defined in this regard. They’re characters perhaps slightly too old to be playing heartbreak games—the film opens at the wedding of Connor’s best friend Greg (a scene-stealing Jaboukie Young-White) where Olivia purposefully dips before Connor’s Best Man speech, leaving Hauer-King standing for a long beat in the evening’s shadow—but they’re attractive and affable. So they can away with bad decisions. Up to a point.
One suspects Cruz’s Jenny might agree. Introduced as a few crucial years younger than the other two, and as a bit of a blank canvas for Connor, Olivia, and the audience to make guesses about, when Jenny returns to the story to reveal she’s actually from a conservative and religious background, sympathies immediately scatter to the wind. You can empathize a lot with the happily expecting couple who discover their child-to-be will have a surprise sibling. But what about the scared young person who is asking for emotional support and instead walks into the hottest of messes? And just wait until her Christian parents ask to meet the father.
The further into the wilderness this triangle descends, the more nuance and humanity Hartigan’s vision quietly, and then loudly, unearths. The comedy is not (only) elicited from the fallout of questionable decisions, but how we as people, prospective partners, and even adults living in 21st century America circumnavigate the social pressures placed on them. For instance, a comedy set in the heartland of Little Rock, Arkansas can unfortunately get a lot of mileage, and pathos, out of a woman needing to consider an abortion that’s a 150-mile drive out of state. Conversely, what happens if Jenny and Olivia share the same OBGYN?
The Threesome is ultimately a gentle interrogation of what it means to be happy when life goes astray, and the sometimes irreconcilable differences which separate that perceived happiness from our realities.
The film raises some especially thorny questions by its third act that its subsequently typical rom-com ending underserves. Hartigan attempts to transcend his genre expectations, yet perhaps a bit like everyone of a certain age, still finally conforms to them. In this way, the possibilities presented by The Threesome‘s eyebrow-raising premise are more satisfying than the answers. But life can be like that. Just ask Olivia, Jenny, and Connor.
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