Three and Out Review

"Three And Out" reviews

Movie

Three And Out

Author

anonymous

Date reviewed

2008-04-18 16:40:16

Provider

Review

The Office star MacKenzie Crook stars in this British comedy about a tube train driver who learns about a way to secure his future, which is morally dubious to say the least.

He plays Paul, who accidentally runs over and kills a youth who was dragged onto the track by his dog. This traumatic incident is followed a few days later by a middle-aged man having a heart track and falling in front of Paul's train. When his colleagues call round to comfort him they inform about a little known London Underground rule. Three 'under' within a month and you're out, with ten year's pay in a lump sum. Armed with this information Paul then sets about finding someone who's willing to commit suicide so that he can retire to Scotland. And he only has a couple of days before a month is up.

With the cost of living in the capital these days one would imagine it wouldn't be too difficult to find people to off themselves and, after a couple of unsuccessful attempts Paul gets lucky when he spots Tommy (the ever reliable Colin Meany) who's about to throw himself from a bridge. Tommy is talked into the deal with the offer of money which will help him tie up the loose ends in his life. This includes a trip north to attempt reconciliation with his wife (Imelda Staunton) and daughter (Gemma Arteton), who think he's dead already. Paul accompanies him and something of a buddy relationship emerges between to two, although it gets a tad strained when Tommy catches Paul in his daughter's bedroom.

Several interesting characters from Tommy's life pop up along the way, including a coarse woman portrayed by tragic celeb Kerry Katona. Crook and Meany show good comic timing in a film that works, albeit in more of an ITV than cinematic kind of way. Vera Drake star Staunton's contribution finds her back in on familiar ground (as while there's a suicide undertone, it doesn't even really appear to have comic bleakness, unlike most of Mike Leigh's films) while Arteton can't help being anything but young and attractive.

There have been complaints from a London Underground boss calling the film "foolish" but it's churlish to say that film trivialises suicide or that drivers in real life might be as uncaring as a character in what's essentially a knock about comedy. And not a bad one, for the most part, either.