
Three to Tango Review
Three To Tango unites three big television stars, Matthew Perry (Oscar), Neve Campbell (Amy), and Dylan McDermott (Charles), of "Friends", "Party of Five", and "The Practice", respectively. Oscar is an architect who, along with his gay business partner Peter (Oliver Platt), is trying to pull of a $90 million deal with Charles, a billionaire. But before he gets the job, however, Charles mistakes Oscar as being gay and selects him to spy on his mistress, Amy. Oscar accepts the job and falls in love with Amy, but he can't reveal to the world that he is straight because he'll lose the job.
The movie is inconsistent. It starts off slow, gets really funny towards the center of the movie, and then falls in to a trite abyss. Nothing really happens until the announcement that Oscar is gay (which I actually missed, due to the sudden need to go to the bathroom in the middle of the flight), at which point things begin to pick up. Oscar gets on the front page of the newspaper, his parents find out, and men start hitting on him. There are truly some hilarious scenes.
I like the acting out of all four of the main characters. Neve Campbell seems to be playing the same role she plays in "Party of Five", the fragile, teary-eyed girl, but still does a good job. McDermott pulls off a character that does not seem like a jerk at first but turns out to be later on (hopefully that is intentional). Perry, the main character, has a slight resemblance to his character on "Friends" but is just as funny. And, of course, Oliver Platt delivers his typical good performance.
The ending is where Three to Tango really suffers. In what can only be called trite, Oscar takes the stage at a convention and announces in front of millions of people that he loves Amy (come on, that's not a spoiler!). His statement that he's not gay at that time is not as funny as it should be, and, of course, everyone starts clapping and cheering. Even after that, though, things are pretty bad, and the final scene between Oscar and Amy is not romantic, nor does it settle all the sexual tension created in the film.
Three to Tango has some really funny parts, and should be seen for that, but suffers quite heavily around the edges.
Review by Erik Samdahl.