Let me
start by saying, the best thing about this film (called Survival Island in America) is the DVD cover. Great
picture, great use of colour... but then
we get to the film itself. Okay, the plot. The film has a pair of couples
partying aboard a yacht in the ocean. The boat sinks, one couple dies immediately
and the other, along with one of the crew members, is stranded on a tropical
island.
The
main character is Jennifer, played by Kelly brook. Her husband is Jack (Billy
Zane) and the crewman is Manuel (Juan Pablo Di Pace). At first Jennifer and
Manuel are thrown together and she pretty much as to depend on him to survive.
it's shortly afterwards that her husband Jack is washed up. The film attempts
to establish a love triangle here as Jennifer is torn between the familiarity
of her husband and much younger more capable Manuel. it doesn't help that Jack
is now a control freak and insanely jealous of Manuel (I say "now"
because this is a character trait that was not alluded to prior to it becoming
relevant) having being alone with his wife.
I'd
like to discuss the plot more but that's pretty much it. Jennifer spends some
time with each man and towards the end of the film begins to manipulate them
against each other for her own goals. Instead, I'll focus on some of the
glaring problems in Three. All of
these characters are absolutely hateful. Jennifer is nothing more than a
manipulative gold-digger who's only with Jack for his money, strings Manuel along would rather work
on her tan while the men try to keep the group alive. Jack is more interested
in keeping his trophy wife in line than doing anything constructive and
despises Manuel for being better equipped to exploit their new situation. Manuel
is the most sympathetic character for the first half but clearly resents the
others dependence on him and develops a near obsession with Jennifer...
Which
brings me to another little chestnut. about half way through, while Manuel is
sleeping, Jack takes his pair of goggles, one of the few tools they have to go
spear-fishing. All well and good. When Manuel discovers this, he goes nuts,
wades into the surf shouting about how he's going to kill Jack. Jennifer chases
him, trying to reason with him and Manuel does the logical thing of realizing
he's getting angry over nothing, calms down and goes back to whatever he was
doing...Just kidding! He overpowers Jennifer and they have sex on the beach. Now,
while you get the feeling that these two are going to screw eventually, you
wouldn't expect him to force himself on her. When Jack gets back, he can magically tell that
something happened and then accuses her of sleeping with Manuel before storming
off, turning a serious issue into a bit of a cop out.
Of
course, none of this is helped by the atrocious acting by all involved. Juan
Pablo Di Pace had never acted before 2005 (he had guest spots in two t.v. shows
the same year as well as another un-credited role) and lets face it, the most
that's expected of Kelly Brook is to fill out a bikini, but Billy Zane is a
serious, talented actor which just makes his phoned in performance that bit
more unsatisfying. it's also bizarre that he seems to have no chemistry with
Kelly Brook, despite being in a relationship with her at the time and even
going on to being engaged for a time. (fun fact: Billy Zane and Kelly Brook
tried to sue the studio in an effort to get them to cut the rather explicit
sex scene from the film. They were unsuccessful)
There's
also a subplot about voodoo and Manuels ex-girlfriend, but it's barley touched
on and quite frankly daft, going so far as to ruining the final confrontation
between Jack and Manuel. these characters unwillingness to work together for
mutual survival is illogical and idiotic, as is their blatant hatred for each
other (an earlier scuffle between these two is what caused the yacht to sink in
the first place.
All in all, Three
is a thriller that is more likely to bore you than anything else.
Please give it a miss.
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