THREE NIGHT STAND (Pat Kiely). See listing. Rating: NN
Three Night Stand is a messy movie, and for a while that feels like a strength. It’s about emotions and loyalties and longing, and that stuff is nothing if not messy, right?
Actor-turned-director Pat Kiely’s follow-up to Who Is KK Downey? sets itself up as a bedroom farce, with appealing Montreal couple Carl and Sue (Sam Huntington and Meaghan Rath, of the American Being Human series) driving to a chalet in the Laurentians for what’s supposed to be a big romantic weekend.
There’s just one problem: Carl and Sue’s relationship isn’t as sturdy as it looks. Oh, and the chalet is owned by Carl’s ex, Robyn (Emmanuelle Chriqui), whom Carl has never quite got over.
Things get really uncomfortable really quickly – Carl literally vomits at the sight of Robyn – and just when Three Night Stand seems poised to delve into this thorny emotional situation, Kiely starts adding unnecessary complications in the form of supporting characters the story doesn’t need. (They’re played by the very talented likes of Jonathan Cherry and Anne-Marie Cadieux, among others, but they’re still unnecessary.)
After that point, Kiely’s movie isn’t about intimacy and emotion, though the three leads do their best to stay on message. It’s about clutter and noise and pointless distraction, and nothing good comes of it.
Opens Saturday (February 1) at the Royal. See listings.
