“I think words are not serving me well at all.”

Justin’s rating: The Revenge Of Rollergirl

Justin’s review: This movie is based off of (I think) a play, in which two very different women (Heather Graham and Natasha Wagner) find themselves waiting in front of an apartment for their boyfriends — who end up being the same guy (Robert Downey Jr.).

At that point they realize how incredibly dishonest and weasely this schmuck is and decide to nail him to the wall. Instead of torturing him when he gets back (which might have been interesting and very welcome), they fight a battle of words in order to corner him in his deception.

This play-turned-movie only has three main people and one location (a fascinating multi-level apartment). The action here is pretty much limited to walking and jumping around. And Robert Downey Jr. sings pretty terribly. Why stick around to see this unnoticed 1997 film?

Because the dialogue here approaches the speed of light, as the three actors are flinging questions, accusations, defenses, theories, and speculations in such a rapid-pitch fire that I hardly had time to laugh in fear that I would miss the next great line. You dearly want to see the slimy Downey owe up to his crimes, yet he keeps sliding around the place, trying to come out in control of the situation as he is used to. He uses sex, death, his mother, and impassioned Hamlet performances as tools to derail the ugliness of the situation.

Does it work? Sort of.

The subtext of this movie is the theory that no relationship can be based totally upon honesty. The subtext of “subtext” is that it is an English major term that is used to act pretentious. Do all couples lie to each other? Probably. Should we just accept that and refuse to better ourselves? I really don’t think so.

I am not a huge Downey fan, and while his performance is very well-done, his character is not given a lot of depth. Graham and Wagner are spectacular as a tag-team, nailing the jerk from all angles. I recommend this film to couples that haven’t had a serious fight yet — there is always more than meets the eye lurking underneath the surface.