Documentary as mesmerizing reality show and juicy soap opera combined with enough relevance, skillful storytelling, polish and compelling subjects to make it big-screen-worthy.
Comment
03/01/07
Three of Hearts: A Postmodern Family (2005)
78 %
Reviews Counted: 18 Fresh: 14 Rotten:4 Average Rating: 6.8/10
Runtime: 1 hr 35 mins
Synopsis: Trinogomous? Mariage-a-trois? Monogamy, but with more than one person? How does one talk about the unusual relationship between Sam, Samantha and Steven? After all, this is one of those stories you WILL want to talk about. In his early twenties, Sam Cagnina, the oldest son of a mafia hit... [More]
Genre: Education/General Interest
Reviews
1 - 19 (sorted by date; UK critics are listed first)
Fascination turns into overkill well before that time is exhausted, as we are along with it.
02/10/06
Ends up uncovering some poignant truths about the nature of love, the pressures of commitment and the limits to the compromises we are willing to make for the people we care about.
01/13/06
Watching this domestic drama unfold is fascinating, funny and often wrenching.
12/06/05
[A] meaningful exploration of the possibilities and the limits within any relationship.
11/23/05
Top Critic
The three participants are so banal, their childlike motives so transparently egotistical -- it’s not inconceivable that they got together because their first names all begin with s -- you want to shake them.
11/17/05
Ultimately a tedious and exasperating look at a domestic experiment gone wrong.
11/04/05
The admirably tasteful result is a social study far more suited for the likes of Oprah Winfrey than Jerry Springer.
11/03/05
Top CriticClick to read the article
10/29/05
That rare documentary whose first half could have been written by Rosie O'Donnell, the second half by Pat Robertson.
10/19/05
The documentary fascinates not only because of its subject matter but because the three people -- whose backgrounds are individually developed -- are so likable, and because Kaplan began filming their relationship in the midst of its best times.
10/19/05
Susan Kaplan's (Small Wonders) first feature as director is tightly told, with a production sheen that's above-average for fly-on-the-wall documentary.
10/18/05
Top Critic
A significant development turns Susan Kaplan's documentary into a thought-provoking story.
10/18/05
Top Critic
Beyond the buzz of iconoclasm, our explorers find a regular troubled marriage, only with three sides to every problem.
10/18/05
A menage-a-trois that could shock the majority of red state denizens; intermittently tittilating.
10/10/05
1 - 19 (sorted by date; UK critics are listed first)
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Around the Network
• Three of Hearts: A Postmodern Family at Rotten Tomatoes
• Three of Hearts: A Postmodern Family at AskMen
• Three of Hearts: A Postmodern Family at AskMen
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