Rule of Three (Review)

Rule of Three

Rule of Three (2008)

Directed by Eric Shapiro

Is Tiffany Shepis in every indie and horror movie this year?

I'm watching Rule of Three via Fantestic Fest Online and poof! there she is. And what else would she be playing but a hot vixen. And it's a most appropriate role and scene.

And what an awesome scene it was (we'll get to that in a second).

But the nitty gritty deal of Rule of Three is it's not a horror movie but more like a film noir, a mystery that looks more like a Broadway play than an actual motion picture.

Because in movies, shit happens on screen, movies show scenes and action that could NOT happen on a stage. Who makes a movie where it takes place in one place (in this case a motel room) and all they do is talk?

But it works...slightly.

Boring Plot-O-Matic

A suspenseful film-noir that takes place at three points in time within a single motel room, viewing the events before, during, and after a college graduate's abduction.

Awesome Review-O-Matic

OK lets review this little indie flick shall we?

As the plot says, we have three distinct points of the movie.

1.) A father and his wife who are looking for their missing daughter (NOW)
2.) A young college couple who are looking for a menage a trois (BEFORE)
3.) A middle aged man looking to score with his distraught female friend with some narcotics (BEFORE THE BEFORE)

Ala time shifting, the movie puts the movie in non chronological order which paces it pretty well for a 85 min movie. As we view into the NOW part, the acting by the father (Ben Siegler) who is determined to find his daughter is very gritty and real that it sets up his scenes nicely.

But it's the young college couple scenes (BEFORE) that are absurdly interesting. Lo (Rhoda Jordan) who is black and Jake (Cary Woodworth) who is white are totally porno-ing inside the motel room. They want to get a threesome going (because it's every guy's dream come true) and they have conversations that are generally witty and keep the scenes flowing. Soon, Jake finds someone who might be willing and she says she's into it. Score!

And booyah! we get some naked Tiffany Shepis. But of course we don't see the good shit which is most unfortunate. It seems not everything turns out like a Vivid Video flick and everybody involved is ultimately scarred (emoitionally and physically)

Then the movie turns into some surreal territory where we have a middle aged dude tries to score roofies from a drug dealer so he can score with his bestest best female friend.

Shit hits the fan and people die.

The movie ends on an ominous twist which doesn't really fit the rest of the movie but intertwines all three points. Nothing M. Nighty, but a wicked curveball that makes you go "thats fucked up dude".

Not much more to say. I didn't love this movie and I didn't hate it. I was a little intrigued by the buildup but I knew the payoff would be non existent. This is an average flick as average flicks go.

Influences

Film Noirs
Mystery movies
Thriller movies
Tape (that movie with Uma and Ethan)
Brick

Gore-ipedia (if you want to be shocked don't read)

Not a drop of blood

Nude-ipedia

YES!!! Tiffany Shepis goes all full frontal for us. But for like 8 seconds.

WTF moment

The twist at the end. It really made me go "WHAT THE FREAKIN FUCK?" (That doesn't mean it made it good)

The Jaded Viewer's Final Prognosis

A very lo fi, indie movie that bubbles up some suspense and really gets you involved in the movie. But the low budget somehow prevented it from going away from the motel room and creating more tension and scenes that could have made this movie boil and be really good.

Good first effort by Eric Shapiro who is the author of books 'Days of Allison' and 'It's Only Temporary'.

It reminded me of Brick (which I really liked). It's a movie that's as average as could be, but if you get a chance, watch it. It's different and it's unique. That's worth 2 spinkicks in my book.

Rating:
The Trailer:





Tags:
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Categories: 2008 fantastic fest, amd fantastic fest online, eric shapiro, film noir, gratuitous nudity, menage a trois, mystery, rule of three, rule of three review, threesome, tiffany shepis