It Takes Three Review: A Smart Update To A Tried And True Formula

Release date: September 3, 2021
Running time: 90 minutes
Directed By: Scott Coffey (Ellie Parker, Adult World)
Written By: Blair Mastbaum and Logan Burdick
Starring: Jared Gilman (Moonrise Kingdom), Aurora Perrineau ("When They See Us"), Mikey Madison (Once Upon a Time... In Hollywood, Scream 5) and David Gridley (The DUFF).

When the coolest guy in school discovers that the new girl sees through his popularity and good looks, he enlists the class nerd to take over his social media accounts to add substance to his style. Signals are crossed and hearts are broken, but in this postmodern rom com nothing turns out exactly as you’d expect.

It Takes Three has an interesting set of characters and an enjoyable high school setting.  It had a nice cast of quirky characters that follow typical high school tropes, but are at least enjoyable to see.  The main character Cy (Gillman) is a standard overly smart but socially awkward guy, but he is an entertaining character to watch.  He has a sarcastic humor that is funny and biting.  His frenemy Chris (Gridley) is also fun to watch in your standard high school popular but not bright jock character. I enjoyed his obliviousness and some of the humor when he is trying to understand what Cy is telling him.   And the ladies in the film are good examples of high school tropes, but are much more independent and driven than I initially expected them to be.  It Takes Three does change the formula a little bit, though, with Chris being an instagram influencer rather than your typical jock, and the love interest Roxy (Perrineau) being very interested in art and socially responsible causes.  And throughout it all, the film does have an enjoyable soundtrack that helps you get into the overall story.  

But It Take Three, despite having some updates to a more modern overall feel, still feels like a predictable high school love triangle story.  It is not bad, just something that I felt like I had seen before.  And the major plot twists did not have much surprise because I had either seen those movies before or they were telegraphed in the film.  This predictability also just made the film not keep my attention, despite the enjoyable cast.  I enjoyed the more modern story and characters but despite this, the movie did not feel like it brought anything new to the table.  And the film's financial motivation for the main character did feel a little odd.  It made the whole situation lack emotional impact.

It Takes Three has some smart updates to the high school imposter love triangle formula, with quirky characters and great music, but does have a distinct feeling of déjà vu.  

Rent it.

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It Takes Three is available digitally and on demand on September 3, 2021.  

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