Screenwriters Steve Lewis and Tony Owen evidently disagree, contriving
this comedy of errors about a beleaguered London underground driver who
can earn a sizeable compensation package if he can persuade someone to
leap in front of his train.
Even the most skilled scribes would struggle to navigate the thorny and
sensitive moral dilemmas at heart of Three And Out, and regrettably,
Lewis and Owen aren't up to the Herculean task, clumsily melding a
farcical opening 30 minutes with the heart-rending emotions of the
resolutely downbeat finale.
It's no wonder that Aslef, the union representing London Underground
drivers, has strongly opposed the film and announced its intention to
protest the premiere.
The sombre musings of the second hour proves strangely compelling, by
virtue of a tour de force supporting performance from Imelda Staunton
that is far better than the film deserves, but crass running gags
continue to spoil the mood.
London underground driver Paul Callow (Crook) is shell-shocked when a
passenger accidentally falls on the track in front of his train.
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A few days later, a heart attack victim suffers the same fate and Paul
is surprised to learn from colleagues Vic (Benton) and Ash (Stone) about
an unspoken rule: if a driver witnesses three accidental deaths within
the space of one month, he is immediately compensated with 10 years'
salary.
The cogs of Paul's febrile imaginative whirr into action and he hatches
a daring plan to find someone willing to throw themselves under his
train for the money.
THREE AND OUT (15, 106 mins)
Released: April 25
Deeply depressed Tommy Cassidy (Meaney), who attempts to leap to his
death off Holborn Viaduct, seems to fit the bill and the suicidal man
agrees to Paul's plan on the proviso that they travel to the Liverpool
so that Tommy can bid farewell to his loved ones.
As friendship blossoms between the two men, Paul begins to question
their macabre scheme but as Tommy reminds him, "a deal is a deal".
Three And Out is populated with crazed characters like a cannibalistic
French chef (Sher) and a foul-mouthed mistress (Katona), who continually
distract from the film's half-hearted efforts to provoke debate.
Crooks is a vapid leading man, unable to find any emotional depth to his
loner, while Meaney's performance only gathers steam when the film
reaches the Lake District and Staunton's embittered wife.
Comedy and tragedy are unruly bedfellows and first-time director
Jonathan Gershfield is poorly equipped to strike the right tone,
lurching between two extremes, often in the same scene.
Dialogue occasionally delivers some pithy home truths - "Isn't it a sin
to commit suicide if you're Catholic?" wonders Paul; "Isn't it a sin to
deliberately run someone down in your train if you're a human being?"
counters Tommy - but piercing insights into the human condition are far
beyond this film's grasp.
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