TrustMovies, being bisexual, has long been a sucker for "threesome" films (one of his favorites remains Andrew Fleming's eponymously titled effort from 1994). He was hoping to find this a good new addition to the rather small batch of threesome movies, but the co-writer here (with David Scott Smith) and director (who's also a noted cinematographer) Svetlana Cvetko (shown below) has managed to leave out anything resembling genuine character from her three main characters.
Oh, these cardboard cut-outs cavort like crazy and would seem to be having the time of their life -- even if we in the audience are maybe not having our own. 
These three -- above, left to right: Nassim, Christine, Marcello -- are played by, respectively, Neyssan Falahi, Cristina Rambaldi and Mattia Minasi. Signore Manisi grins, smiles and laughs consistently throughout, and while I understood that this character's life has been made easy via his dad who is a famous Italian soap opera star, I still wanted to punch him in the face periodically, just to give him something to deal with, for Christ's sake! Ms Rambaldi (granddaughter of that special effects maestro Carlo) seems as pretty and vapid as the film itself, but again, the screenplay and dialog do her little service. Coming off best is Swiss-born M. Falahi, who get to brood, exercise and teach an acting class, along with all the cavorting and sex.
Speaking of, even though I am one who believes that sexuality -- straight, gay and bi -- is pretty fluid, the immediate fluidity shown by these two guys for each other does seem surprising, and while the movie, along with its characters, refuses to comment on or even question any of this, you and I certainly might. Show Me What You Got is also -- considering that title -- surprisingly chaste in its visuals: no full-frontal for the guys nor even as I recall (lower-half, anyway) for the gal. There's lots of kissing, though, which is fun for awhile.
What there is not much of, however, is real character. Did the filmmaker perhaps feel that having her French female narrator explain just about everything about everyone somehow made it unnecessary to create full-bodied people? When a very subsidiary scene -- an acting class for refugees that Nassim agrees to teach and that features a "ball of energy" created and then passed from person to person -- turns out to be the best and most specific extended moment in the entire movie, you simply shake your head in oddball wonder.
Yes, the movie is light and frothy and playful. But despite a finale that attempts some darkness, profundity and surprise, it still registers on empty. What is described in the press release as French New Wave -- ah, yes: black-and-white cinematography, ersatz Jules & Jim cavorting -- instead comes off more like International Old Hat.
From Level Forward’s Labz Live and Screen Forward theatrical network, Show Me What You Got -- in English, Italian and French (with English subtitles as needed) and running 96 minutes -- opens virtually tomorrow, Wednesday, February 12, at various venues around the country, including Laemmle theaters in the Los Angeles area. Click here for information on how to view.
But since the entire movie and all of its events arrive via a French accented narration rather than by anything organic that come from life, growth, struggle and understanding, these three just plop down and do whatever that narration has them doing.
Our three protagonists are managing all this -- of course and once again -- via the credit card that the wealthy one has gotten off his dad, so as ever, money sho' nuff' makes things easy.
These three -- above, left to right: Nassim, Christine, Marcello -- are played by, respectively, Neyssan Falahi, Cristina Rambaldi and Mattia Minasi. Signore Manisi grins, smiles and laughs consistently throughout, and while I understood that this character's life has been made easy via his dad who is a famous Italian soap opera star, I still wanted to punch him in the face periodically, just to give him something to deal with, for Christ's sake! Ms Rambaldi (granddaughter of that special effects maestro Carlo) seems as pretty and vapid as the film itself, but again, the screenplay and dialog do her little service. Coming off best is Swiss-born M. Falahi, who get to brood, exercise and teach an acting class, along with all the cavorting and sex.
Speaking of, even though I am one who believes that sexuality -- straight, gay and bi -- is pretty fluid, the immediate fluidity shown by these two guys for each other does seem surprising, and while the movie, along with its characters, refuses to comment on or even question any of this, you and I certainly might. Show Me What You Got is also -- considering that title -- surprisingly chaste in its visuals: no full-frontal for the guys nor even as I recall (lower-half, anyway) for the gal. There's lots of kissing, though, which is fun for awhile.
What there is not much of, however, is real character. Did the filmmaker perhaps feel that having her French female narrator explain just about everything about everyone somehow made it unnecessary to create full-bodied people? When a very subsidiary scene -- an acting class for refugees that Nassim agrees to teach and that features a "ball of energy" created and then passed from person to person -- turns out to be the best and most specific extended moment in the entire movie, you simply shake your head in oddball wonder.
Yes, the movie is light and frothy and playful. But despite a finale that attempts some darkness, profundity and surprise, it still registers on empty. What is described in the press release as French New Wave -- ah, yes: black-and-white cinematography, ersatz Jules & Jim cavorting -- instead comes off more like International Old Hat.
From Level Forward’s Labz Live and Screen Forward theatrical network, Show Me What You Got -- in English, Italian and French (with English subtitles as needed) and running 96 minutes -- opens virtually tomorrow, Wednesday, February 12, at various venues around the country, including Laemmle theaters in the Los Angeles area. Click here for information on how to view.
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