First, the bad: 1) The movie is mis-marketed by the packaging. There is a lot more to Trois than just the complications arising from the forbidden three-way tryst. The movie becomes a mystery/thriller/suspense and the shift is almost disconcerting if all you have to go on is the box art.2) The lighting sucks and the camera work is simplistic. The filmmakers are young and had a small budget and it shows in these two areas. The lighting often makes the viewer feel they've mistakenly changed channels to a daytime soap opera and the camera work (with the exception of the excellent opening "home video" scenes) is nothing to boast about.3) There are about three times in the film that the delivery of a certain line fails completely, and is so bad that it nearly sinks the entire scene in which it appears.4) Is the number of sets used. Literally. Two houses, an office, and a bar. Four sets. That's about it.Now, the good: 1) Excellent acting. The lead for this role does a fantastic job playing a young, ambitious, newlywed husband. All of the additional characters are strong. Every main character has at least one chance to really shine dramatically and they all step up to the challenge. A lame performance never ruins a scene, and the dialogue is (for the most part) delivered convincingly in a natural way.2) Superb production value: "but wait a minute, you just said there were four sets and the lighting sucked!" True, but the budget for this film was $200k. If you handed $200k to the Steven Spielberg or James Cameron, I'm willing to bet they couldn't have managed half of the things this movie does on a shoestring. It's an excellent effort and the results they got for their money are astounding.3) An intriguing, original plot. The story, which starts out relatively simple, takes a couple of twists and turns that actually create a complex web of confusion and deceit that makes the story work.4) An excellent, tasteful sex scene. If you bought this movie hoping for porn, you'll be let down. The sex shots are tight, sensual, and mature. They propel the story forward and do justice to the topic without glamourizing it or taking the focus off the story to focus on the sex.In short: if you feel like lately you've sat through one too many summer 'blockbusters' with the same old hackneyed plots, huge effects, and zero heart, this might be the movie you're looking for. Or if you laughed all the way through "Love and a Bullet" and thought it was excellent, you might like this one.

Trois is a sexy thriller about the before and after-math of a threesome (two girls and a guy). The participants are a young Black married couple in Atlanta who seek to spice up their love life and an openly bisexual woman who wants to keep custody of her son. This film admirably attempts to explore the complex dynamics of monogamous sexuality, from sexual preference to sexual power. The gravest downfall is the attempt to combine too many twists and turns that don't pay off or gel well with the story's initial tone.

I must admit that when I sat down in the movie theater to see "Trois" I didn't quite know what to expect. What with a title like "Trois" which is short for ménage à trois, I was preparing myself to both be shocked and a little thrilled at the love scenes. While I did get that thrilling love scene that I was expecting I also got much more, the chance to see black folk in a complex movie role. I have grown tired of us always being cast as the comedian or the bad person on the silver screen and this movie is a breath of fresh air in that it explores one on one relationships between black folk. While this movie left a lot to be desired in the area of cinematography and acting, it is the right step toward more black dramas. We've got to start somewhere.

First of all, let me make one thing crystal clear. When I paid my money to see this movie, I didn't walk into the theatre expecting something worthy of Academy Award consideration. However, what I did expect was a story that had some semblance of logic (and perhaps a few cheap thrills). I also expected a film that in some way dealt with the often avoided issue of Black sexuality. But once again like several recent Black sexual "thrillers," I was left disappointed. What's the deal with these independent filmmakers? You make a film that presents itself as a steamy erotic thriller, but with PG-rated sex and no nudity to speak of. What's the point? Audiences would have been better served by renting an old copy of FATAL ATTRACTION or even SHE'S GOTTA HAVE IT, than paying their hard earned money to see basically the same thing that you could catch for free on a network daytime drama. An erotic thriller without any steamy sex or nudity is like a western with no gunfight or a romantic comedy with little romance and no comedy. On another level, the poorly structured story makes absolutely no sense. Without giving away the ending, the writers set up things that don't pay off later in the script and "pay off" with things that were not properly set up. By doing so, they break a cardinal rule of any type of thriller or mystery story by not playing fair. Also, the scenes are not arranged for maximum dramatic effect. It lacks the escalating tension that made FATAL ATTRACTION so effective in its examination of infidelity. There are also several subplots in the film which only serve to weaken the main plot and trivialize important issues (e.g., physical abuse, child care). Additionally, the film relies too heavily on stereotypes, particularly as they relate to the lesbian/bi-sexual character of Jade. In terms of acting, Gretchen Palmer stands out with her over-the-top performance as Jade, which occasionally gave the film some much needed camp appeal. On the other hand, Gary Dourdan as Jermaine was weak. He's so cold and insensitive, one wonders how his wife, Jasmine (Kenya Moore in a typical B-movie performance) agreed to his "indecent proposal" in the first place. If independent filmmakers are going to compete with big budget studio fare such as FATAL ATTRACTION, they must be willing to "push the envelope." Instead, TROIS along with a series of other recent independently produced sexual thrillers insist on playing it safe by toning down the sex and the more provocative elements in their films. For what reason, who knows? Hopefully, some other filmmaker will "step up to the plate" and really deal with Black sexuality rather than skirt around it. On a positive note, despite it's many flaws, TROIS is still better than Rob Hardy's anemic first feature, CHOCOLATE CITY. The film is also to be commended for its small scale, but reasonably effective grass-roots marketing champaign. As a gesture in support of Black independent films, I have delayed submission of this critique until the film has all but left the theatres. For those who haven't seen it, check it out on video and share your own views with the moviegoing public.