Documentary as mesmerizing reality show and juicy soap opera combined with enough relevance, skillful storytelling, polish and compelling subjects to make it big-screen-worthy.
Three of Hearts: A Postmodern Family (2005)
Tomatometer
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Reviews Counted:18
Fresh:14
Rotten:4
Average Rating:6.8/10
Runtime: 1 hr 35 mins
Genre: Musical & Performing Arts
Theatrical Release:Oct 19, 2005 Limited
Synopsis: Trinogomous? Mariage-a-trois? Monogamy, but with more than one person? How does one talk about the unusual relationship between Sam, Samantha and Steven? After all, this is one of those stories you... Trinogomous? Mariage-a-trois? Monogamy, but with more than one person? How does one talk about the unusual relationship between Sam, Samantha and Steven? After all, this is one of those stories you WILL want to talk about. In his early twenties, Sam Cagnina, the oldest son of a mafia hit man, meets Steven, a handsome 19-year old college student and they fall in love. Soon Sam, charisma and energy to spare, gets an idea. "Hey, wouldn't it be great to bring a woman into the relationship!?" Steven, being an easygoing guy, agrees. They spend the next seven years dating and looking for a woman they could both fall in love with who would agree to live in a "trio" relationship. They know they have found that special someone else when they meet Samantha, a Toronto ex-pat struggling as an actress in New York City. Sam meets Samantha, and they fall in love. Samantha meets Steven and they fall in love too. The "trio," as they are affectionately called, begin their journey. We catch up with Sam, Samantha and Steven nine years later. They are going to have a baby; a baby about whom one thing seems certain: he/she will have an "S" name. Three of Hearts explores this unique union as they negotiate their living arrangements, have children and open one of the hottest wellness centers in New York. Of course you want to know about their families and their friends and, we'd guess, about the sex. Jam-packed with incident it is often hilarious but once accustomed to its more sensational elements, we begin to see this film for what it is, a rather remarkable journey of self-discovery for this threesome and for those of us with whom they've shared their lives. Now, what constitution is ready for this one!? --© ThinkFilm [More]
Producer: Susan Kaplan, David Friedson
Studio: ThinkFilm
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Reviews for Three of Hearts: A Postmodern Family
Fascination turns into overkill well before that time is exhausted, as we are along with it.
Ends up uncovering some poignant truths about the nature of love, the pressures of commitment and the limits to the compromises we are willing to make for the people we care about.
Watching this domestic drama unfold is fascinating, funny and often wrenching.
[A] meaningful exploration of the possibilities and the limits within any relationship.
The three participants are so banal, their childlike motives so transparently egotistical -- it’s not inconceivable that they got together because their first names all begin with s -- you want to shake them.
Ultimately a tedious and exasperating look at a domestic experiment gone wrong.
The admirably tasteful result is a social study far more suited for the likes of Oprah Winfrey than Jerry Springer.
That rare documentary whose first half could have been written by Rosie O'Donnell, the second half by Pat Robertson.
The documentary fascinates not only because of its subject matter but because the three people -- whose backgrounds are individually developed -- are so likable, and because Kaplan began filming their relationship in the midst of its best times.
Susan Kaplan's (Small Wonders) first feature as director is tightly told, with a production sheen that's above-average for fly-on-the-wall documentary.
A significant development turns Susan Kaplan's documentary into a thought-provoking story.
Beyond the buzz of iconoclasm, our explorers find a regular troubled marriage, only with three sides to every problem.
A menage-a-trois that could shock the majority of red state denizens; intermittently tittilating.
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