Show Me What You Got – especially down below

B- Romantic drama
Written by Svetlana Cvetko and David Scott Smith
Directed by Svetlana Cvetko

It’s hard to watch this film without thinking about François Truffaut’s 1962 masterpiece Jules and Jim. Both movies are about two men, very close friends, and the woman they both love. She also loves both of them. The men are from different countries. To make it even more obvious, it’s shot in widescreen black-and-white – beautifully by director Svetlana Cvetko. Both films have third-person, voice of God narration.

But in Show Me, Anne-Laure Jardry’s narration becomes the film’s biggest flaw. The film rarely allows us to understand a character’s emotions by looking at their face – arguably cinema’s greatest tool. Instead, Jardry’s unseen voice tells us what everyone is thinking. In fact, at one point the narrator tells us that the characters won’t talk in this scene – I wish the narrator did the same. It becomes terribly annoying.

On the good side, the characters are likeable and believable. Also, Show Me What You Got is a very sexy movie. You get three strikingly good-looking young adults, who all meet together in Los Angeles. Marcello (Mattia Minasi) is the son of an Italian TV star, whom he wants to avoid. Nassim (Neyssan Falahi) is an Iranian/French martial arts teacher; he looks like John Lennon. And then there’s Christine (Cristina Rambaldi), a beautiful, sexy, young local of Italian descent.

The film is almost as international as its main characters. Although this is officially an American film, that annoying narration is in French with English subtitles (remember that only one of the three characters is half-French). Most, but not all, of the dialog is in English. Most of the film is set in the Los Angeles area.

There appears to be no jealousy within this threesome. We often see all three in bed together naked, and all having a very good time. Occasionally, the film suggests that the two men have a mild sexual attraction to each other, but nothing like either of their desires for Christine.

The three do more things together than just have sex. When we first meet Christine, she’s wearing a knitted pussy hat. (Is it pink? I don’t know. The movie is in black-and-white.) Later on, all three attend a protest march. Christine also brings her two lovers to an art museum. Of course, she’s the only California native among the three, so she knows where to go.

Eventually, the threesome goes to Italy, where Marcello must take a blood test for a patrimony lawsuit. That doesn’t mean much, except for having three-way sex on another continent.

Here’s one major difference between Jules and Jim and Show Me What You Got: Truffaut’s film covers many years; the new movie takes place in a matter of days. Another difference: Truffaut’s film is a masterpiece. Show Me is enjoyable but will soon be forgotten.

I was told that Show Me What You Got would be available virtually Friday through the Roxie. However, it appears that this isn’t happening. You can stream it, I believe, through this website. [I have altered this paragraph]