BEFORE: Continuing the adventures of a little girl raised by 3 men: an actor, an architect, and an artist. Clearly the screenwriter never got beyond the letter "A" when he was thinking up professions.
THE PLOT: Sylvia's work causes her to move to England with her daughter, Mary. It's not just her work, though, it's also her new boyfriend and fiance. Peter, Michael and Jack don't like this new arrangement as they feel like Mary is just as much their daughter as she is Sylvia's. The three travel to England to stop the wedding.
AFTER: God, are they serious with this drivel? This really failed to make me nostalgic for the 80's. I don't know what's worse - portraying an idealized home life with four adults in a Manhattan townhouse all getting along raising one kid, like it's the most normal situation, or over-simplifying relationships (well, I can't marry THIS one, so I'll just marry THIS one.)
Then there's the portrayal of England, which is all riding lessons and society tea parties, and everyone is SO very proper. I'll wager that while some of that remains, England's not as stuck in the 19th century as a screenwriter would have you believe. I'm betting that their parties look a lot more like ours.
Plus, there's a criminal underuse of Guttenberg - they really didn't give him anything to do in this film, a literal fifth wheel. They really didn't develop Nancy Travis' character either, beyond that horrible fake accent, except to show that she can't cook - which isn't really funny, it's just sad.
It would have been a better plot idea to have the drug dealers from the first film get out of jail and come looking for revenge. Instead, it's almost 100% nonsensical. Everyone in the film always seems to be looking out for their own best interests, no one really ever thinks of anyone else's needs, when you get right down to it. Thank God they never made "3 Men and a Teenager" or "3 Men and a Young Adult".
Starring all of last night's leads, plus Fiona Shaw (last seen in "My Left Foot").
RATING: 2 out of 10 tuxedos
These dumb sequels fascinate me. The end of "Three Men" is, in itself, a potentially great premise for a comedy. It's six years later. This little girl has not one, not just two, but four loving, doting parents. Don't you already have enough conflict between those four without throwing in an overseas fiancee Who's No Good into the mix?
ReplyDelete(All I remember about this film is a line in a trailer or a commercial in which an uptight English woman lauds the architect for his "massive erections." Like the nutshot, like the fart joke, the presence of this kind of thing in the trailer itself usually indicates grave problems.)
And I didn't even mention the preacher who looks a lot like Ted Danson's character who in a stunning twist, is revealed to be...(wait for it) Ted Danson's character! Geez, who was fooled by that?
ReplyDeleteShe's lived with the guy for years, and she doesn't recognize him in the flimsiest of disguises? Not even by his voice? Get real.
In my defense, pickings are getting slim here in Year 3. I'm still trying to find some gems but they're a lot harder to come by.
Maybe you should take requests?
ReplyDeleteHow would that work, exactly? I think I've reached a point where if you added my movies seen before I started the project, together with the 900 in the project, that number would (hopefully) far outnumber the classic movies left to see.
ReplyDeleteSo how would someone know what's on the list of the films I haven't seen? Then there are the films I'm seeking out or considering for inclusion, or the ones I haven't thought of yet...