Three to Tango
Encyclopedia
Three to Tango is a 1999
romantic comedy film
starring Matthew Perry
, Neve Campbell
, Dylan McDermott
and Oliver Platt
.
man when meeting with Charles Newman (made even more humorous by the fact that Peter is genuinely gay, with Oscar's comments leading Newman to think that Peter's the straight one). Under the mistaken impression that Oscar is homosexual, and therefore a safe companion for his girlfriend Amy (Campbell), he asks Oscar to keep an eye on her for him to tell him who she talks to (While also making sure that she doesn't talk to his wife). Naturally, Oscar falls for Amy virtually on sight, but she thinks he's gay, and thus he is forced to maintain the charade of being gay to avoid getting into trouble with Newman, and losing the commission.
Matters become even more complicated when a news article about Oscar and Peter's homosexual status is published in the Business paper, leaving Oscar in the increasingly frustrating position of having to fend off advances from various gay men while convincing his friends and family that he is simply pretending to be gay; Amy even sets him up on a date with her ex-boyfriend, football player Kevin Cartwright, but Oscar manages to defuse the situation by saying that he's in love with someone else. Despite the embarrassing misconceptions, Oscar forms a close bond with Amy as they continue to spend time together-to the extent that Amy moves in with him after she is kicked out of her apartment-Amy sharing various personal stories with Oscar (Such as the fact that she once had a lesbian experience in college). At the final presentation for the cultural center, Oscar and Peter receive the commission, but Oscar is simultaneously told that he has won the award for Gay Professional Man of the Year, with Newman deciding that he will reveal his decision after the ceremony.
After an awkward meeting between Amy and Newman's wife at the party, she and Oscar go to a bar, but Amy leaves in frustration after she nearly kisses him, prompting a brief argument between her and Oscar where Oscar states that her relationship with Newman has no future, with the only reason they haven't argued after over a year being that Newman doesn't care enough to fight with her, while Amy counters that Oscar is hardly in a position to give her advice on romance, having simply been playing it safe by spending time with her as he hasn't been on a date since she met him. After spending the day alone, Oscar attends the award ceremony for Gay Professional Man of the Year. However, although he initially continues his charade, while looking out at the people before him, he instead makes a passionate speech about how he admires all the men and women here who were able to tell the truth to their families about how they feel, ending the speech by "coming out of the closet" as he admits that he's straight and in love with Amy; even if he simultaneously destroys any hope of being with her by doing so, he felt that everyone in the room deserves the same kind of honesty that they have given their own families. As he is applauded for having the courage to admit the truth, he runs after Amy, only for her to punch him and Newman before walking out of the theatre in a rage, leaving Peter to accept a date with Kevin. However, as Oscar sits in a restaurant where he and Amy ate together on the night they met, Amy comes to see him, admitting (After he apologises for lying to her) that she loves him too, followed by their first kiss.
In a post-credit sequence, Newman's wife convinces him to go with Oscar and Peter's design despite his own claims to go with the other firm, revealing that she knew about him and Amy and informing him bluntly that Oscar and Peter did the better job.
Tagline - All's fair in the war of love
in Friends, although in Chandler's case the assumption was never taken to the extreme that it was in this film.
When watching a football game featuring the character Kevin Cartwright, real life University of Michigan
football play-by-play announcer Frank Beckmann can be heard saying the name of former kicker Pete Elezovick.
1999 in film
The year 1999 in film involved several noteworthy events and has been called "The Year That Changed Movies". Several significant feature films, including Stanley Kubrick's final film Eyes Wide Shut, Pedro Almodóvar's first Oscar-winning film All About My Mother, science fiction The Matrix, Deep...
romantic comedy film
Romantic comedy film
Romantic comedy films are films with light-hearted, humorous plotlines, centered on romantic ideals such as that true love is able to surmount most obstacles. One dictionary definition is "a funny movie, play, or television program about a love story that ends happily"...
starring Matthew Perry
Matthew Perry (actor)
Matthew Langford Perry is a Canadian-American actor and comedian, best known for his Emmy-nominated role as Chandler Bing on the popular, long-running NBC television sitcom Friends...
, Neve Campbell
Neve Campbell
Neve Adrianne Campbell is a Canadian actress. After beginning her career on stage, and on numerous commercials, she starred on the Canadian television series Catwalk. She then rose to international fame on the Golden Globe-winning 1990s television series Party of Five, playing the role of teenager...
, Dylan McDermott
Dylan McDermott
Mark Anthony McDermott , better known by his professional name of Dylan McDermott, is an American actor, known for his role as lawyer and law firm head Bobby Donnell on the television legal drama The Practice and his role in the series Dark Blue as Lt. Carter Shaw. McDermott currently stars in FX...
and Oliver Platt
Oliver Platt
Oliver James Platt is a Canadian-American actor. He is currently starring in the Showtime original series, The Big C with Laura Linney.-Early life:...
.
Plot
Set amidst Chicago's swing music revival of the late 1990s, Oscar Novak (Perry), an aspiring architect and his business partner, Peter Steinberg (Platt), have just landed a career-making opportunity with a Chicago tycoon Charles Newman (McDermott) who has chosen them to compete for the design of a multimillion dollar cultural center. In a ploy for publicity, Newman has pitched Oscar and Peter in a neck-and-neck competition with their archrivals and former colleagues, the hugely successful (and equally ruthless) Decker and Strauss. In a comic twist Oscar is mistaken for a gayGay
Gay is a word that refers to a homosexual person, especially a homosexual male. For homosexual women the specific term is "lesbian"....
man when meeting with Charles Newman (made even more humorous by the fact that Peter is genuinely gay, with Oscar's comments leading Newman to think that Peter's the straight one). Under the mistaken impression that Oscar is homosexual, and therefore a safe companion for his girlfriend Amy (Campbell), he asks Oscar to keep an eye on her for him to tell him who she talks to (While also making sure that she doesn't talk to his wife). Naturally, Oscar falls for Amy virtually on sight, but she thinks he's gay, and thus he is forced to maintain the charade of being gay to avoid getting into trouble with Newman, and losing the commission.
Matters become even more complicated when a news article about Oscar and Peter's homosexual status is published in the Business paper, leaving Oscar in the increasingly frustrating position of having to fend off advances from various gay men while convincing his friends and family that he is simply pretending to be gay; Amy even sets him up on a date with her ex-boyfriend, football player Kevin Cartwright, but Oscar manages to defuse the situation by saying that he's in love with someone else. Despite the embarrassing misconceptions, Oscar forms a close bond with Amy as they continue to spend time together-to the extent that Amy moves in with him after she is kicked out of her apartment-Amy sharing various personal stories with Oscar (Such as the fact that she once had a lesbian experience in college). At the final presentation for the cultural center, Oscar and Peter receive the commission, but Oscar is simultaneously told that he has won the award for Gay Professional Man of the Year, with Newman deciding that he will reveal his decision after the ceremony.
After an awkward meeting between Amy and Newman's wife at the party, she and Oscar go to a bar, but Amy leaves in frustration after she nearly kisses him, prompting a brief argument between her and Oscar where Oscar states that her relationship with Newman has no future, with the only reason they haven't argued after over a year being that Newman doesn't care enough to fight with her, while Amy counters that Oscar is hardly in a position to give her advice on romance, having simply been playing it safe by spending time with her as he hasn't been on a date since she met him. After spending the day alone, Oscar attends the award ceremony for Gay Professional Man of the Year. However, although he initially continues his charade, while looking out at the people before him, he instead makes a passionate speech about how he admires all the men and women here who were able to tell the truth to their families about how they feel, ending the speech by "coming out of the closet" as he admits that he's straight and in love with Amy; even if he simultaneously destroys any hope of being with her by doing so, he felt that everyone in the room deserves the same kind of honesty that they have given their own families. As he is applauded for having the courage to admit the truth, he runs after Amy, only for her to punch him and Newman before walking out of the theatre in a rage, leaving Peter to accept a date with Kevin. However, as Oscar sits in a restaurant where he and Amy ate together on the night they met, Amy comes to see him, admitting (After he apologises for lying to her) that she loves him too, followed by their first kiss.
In a post-credit sequence, Newman's wife convinces him to go with Oscar and Peter's design despite his own claims to go with the other firm, revealing that she knew about him and Amy and informing him bluntly that Oscar and Peter did the better job.
Tagline - All's fair in the war of love
Cast and characters
- Matthew PerryMatthew Perry (actor)Matthew Langford Perry is a Canadian-American actor and comedian, best known for his Emmy-nominated role as Chandler Bing on the popular, long-running NBC television sitcom Friends...
as Oscar Novak - Neve CampbellNeve CampbellNeve Adrianne Campbell is a Canadian actress. After beginning her career on stage, and on numerous commercials, she starred on the Canadian television series Catwalk. She then rose to international fame on the Golden Globe-winning 1990s television series Party of Five, playing the role of teenager...
as Amy Post - Dylan McDermottDylan McDermottMark Anthony McDermott , better known by his professional name of Dylan McDermott, is an American actor, known for his role as lawyer and law firm head Bobby Donnell on the television legal drama The Practice and his role in the series Dark Blue as Lt. Carter Shaw. McDermott currently stars in FX...
as Charles Newman - Oliver PlattOliver PlattOliver James Platt is a Canadian-American actor. He is currently starring in the Showtime original series, The Big C with Laura Linney.-Early life:...
as Peter Steinberg - Cylk CozartCylk CozartCylk Cozart is an American actor who has appeared in over 30 films and 20 television shows.-Early life:Cozart was born in Knoxville, Tennessee. His father is of African ancestry and his mother is Native American. Prior to becoming an actor, Cozart was an established model working in Miami, FL...
as Kevin Cartwright
Other characters
- John C. McGinleyJohn C. McGinleyJohn Christopher McGinley is an American actor, most notable for his roles as Perry Cox in Scrubs, Bob Slydell in Office Space, Sergeant Red O'Neill in Oliver Stone's Platoon and Marv in Stone's Wall Street. He has also written and produced for television and film...
as Strauss - Bob BalabanBob BalabanRobert Elmer "Bob" Balaban is an American actor, author and director.-Personal life:Balaban was born in Chicago, Illinois, the son of Eleanor and Elmer Balaban, who owned several movie theatres and later was a pioneer in cable television...
as Decker - Deborah RushDeborah RushDeborah Rush is an American actress.Rush has worked in television, film and on Broadway. In 1984, she was nominated for a Tony Award for Best Performance by a Featured Actress in a Play for Michael Frayn's comedy Noises Off. She also acted in Stephen Adly Guirgis' The Last Days of Judas Iscariot...
as Lenore - Kelly RowanKelly RowanKelly Rowan is a Canadian television and film actress and former fashion model. She is best known for portraying Kirsten Cohen on The O.C.-Early life:...
as Olivia Newman - Rick GomezRick GomezRichard Harper "Rick" Gomez is an American actor. He is known for portraying T-4. George Luz, in the HBO television miniseries Band of Brothers, and as "Endless Mike" Hellstrom in the cult hit Nickelodeon TV series The Adventures of Pete and Pete.-Movies:*Love Ranch - Tom Macy*Another Cinderella...
as Rick - Patrick Van HornPatrick Van HornPatrick Van Horn is an American actor. He is best known for his role as Sue in the 1996 film Swingers, starring alongside real-life friends Jon Favreau, Vince Vaughn and Ron Livingston...
as Zack - David RamseyDavid Ramsey (actor)David Ramsey is an American actor, best known for his roles in the Showtime TV series Dexter as Anton Briggs and the film Mother and Child.-Life and career:...
as Bill - Barbara GordonBarbara GordonBarbara Gordon is a fictional character appearing in comic books published by DC Comics and in related media, created by Gardner Fox and Carmine Infantino...
as Jenny Novak - Roger Dunn as Edward Novak
Trivia
The idea of Perry playing a straight character who is mistaken for a homosexual is used as a joke in his role as Chandler BingChandler Bing
Chandler Muriel Bing is a fictional character on the popular U.S. television sitcom Friends, portrayed by Matthew Perry.-Background:Chandler Muriel Bing was born on April 8, 1968, the son of an erotic novelist mother and a cross-dressing Las Vegas star and is of Scottish ancestry. Chandler was Ross...
in Friends, although in Chandler's case the assumption was never taken to the extreme that it was in this film.
When watching a football game featuring the character Kevin Cartwright, real life University of Michigan
University of Michigan
The University of Michigan is a public research university located in Ann Arbor, Michigan in the United States. It is the state's oldest university and the flagship campus of the University of Michigan...
football play-by-play announcer Frank Beckmann can be heard saying the name of former kicker Pete Elezovick.