IT TAKES THREE: Teen Rom-Com Updates the Genre to Modern Day
It Takes Three is a teen romantic comedy directed by Scott Coffey and written by Logan Burdick and Blair Mastbaum. The film follows Cy Berger (Jared Gilman), an awkward teenager when the most popular guy in school Chris Newton (David Gridley) enlists his help to attract the attention of the intelligent Roxy (Aurora Perrineau).
Update to a Familiar Genre
It Takes Three brings to mind classic teen romcoms like She’s All That, Can’t Hardly Wait, and Clueless with its concept dealing with pretending to be someone you’re not. This genre is given a modern update through its characters and focus on social media.
The film explores the idea of representing a specific identity through social media accounts, hiding who we truly are behind filters and captions rewritten until they are perfect. Bringing social media into this style of teen comedy plot adds new and exciting layers to the familiar, allowing the film to explore different aspects of identity.
The film also works well in writing its teenager characters like actual teenagers from this time period instead of writing them in a sort of time capsule to the 1990s. Seeing personalities that feel more relevant today makes the film a more interesting experience and one that might appeal to modern teenagers.
It Takes Three does play with some established teen comedy tropes such as the dynamic between the nerd and popular student but does so in new ways. One of the most interesting relationship dynamics in the film is not one of its romances, but the weird friendship between Chris and Cy.
The scenes where Chris and Cy are together planning their catfish strategies bring the two closer together and show that each character has good and bad aspects to their personality. Their friendship–no matter how odd–feels real and the way it shifts throughout the film feels natural to budding relationships.
Memorable Performances
It Takes Three thrives through its performances and the way they update and dismantle classic teen movie character archetypes.
David Gridley plays his popular, out-of-touch character well and with a charm that brings to mind Freddie Prinze Jr’s role in She’s All That. Chris never comes across as a bad guy, just one who might not have the same goals and interests as Roxy and Cy.
There is still a kindness to the character. His insecurity recalls William Hurt in Broadcast News, putting Chris’s interest in Roxy in a similar light to Tom’s interest in Jane. Chris could have come across as a one-note character only concerned with his status as an influencer and YouTube content creator, but we go beyond the surface, and really discover the person underneath.
Making the romance not be between the ‘nerd’ and the popular student gives the film room to breathe and allows multiple relationship dynamics the chance to be fully explored. This is a love triangle film, but that feels second to its exploration of identity and what it means to be yourself.
Jared Gilman does well to establish the insecurities and inconsistencies of his character. Cy feels like a real person who is not always in the right, which makes It Takes Three a more engaging film.
At times, I hated the way Cy felt he was owed a relationship, and part of me wishes this was not explored as often in films because of what it perpetuates in the real world, but at the same time, this gives us glimpses into the worst aspects of all members of the film’s central love triangle.
It Takes Three allows each love interest moment to shine, so we don’t feel as if the solution is already visible in our minds during the first scene.
Mikey Madison’s performance as Cy’s best friend Kat is especially memorable. Her character sees through everyone else, especially Cy, allowing the film to explore his shortcomings in a way that does not feel like it supports him at every turn. The scenes exploring their friendship are nice, but the film does not spend enough time fostering these moments and showing us the closeness between the two.
It Takes Three works best as a character study of its teenage group, exploring each character and showcasing what makes them special. The film has memorable moments expressing the best and worst parts of them all. Even characters we don’t feel will have much to offer are given emotional moments finding the truth hidden inside.
Conclusion
It Takes Three is an interesting update to the classic teen romantic comedy that finds its strength by diving deep inside every character and every relationship dynamic. The main cast each brings something special to the table and perfectly captures the similarities and differences between everyone, highlighting what makes every person unique and why we should not hide behind fake social media personas.
It Takes Three was released September 3rd in the US.
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