Three (Vivid) Review

Reviewed by CP  on  3/2/2003

Couples Friendly: This is a yummy title for couples or singles who've ever contemplated spicing (or spiking) their romantic lives by adding a third wheel to the ride. Friendly females may find it somewhat male-centric and assuredly unbelievable (it is porn, after all, and features nearly twice their own gender as their opposites), but they shouldn't be able to complain about the excitement and intensity of the scenes or the situations.

Plot: Lee and Kara (Devon and Inari) meet up at the same apartment and discover they're dating the same guy (James Bonn), who has used the same lines on both of them. The two decide to see if he can "walk the talk" and handle both of them simultaneously.

Director: Ralph Parfait

Cast: Devon, Inari Vachs, James Bonn, Bobby Vitale, Keki D'Aire, Devinn Lane, Maya Devine, and Ted (Evan Stone).

From: Vivid

Production Date: April 11, 1999

Condom Use: Throughout

Raves and Rants: With one or two minor issues, this film scores high on eroticism, direction, writing, and acting. What's more, it's something that can be watched more than once with a lady friend without losing its premier appeal. While Devon has become a cult figure of some note, my money is on Inari, who is extremely sexy both with glasses, and without. A rant? A 60-second filler of Kobe Tai before the main menu comes on screen -- there's no sex and it's just something extra to fast forward through before the feature. In the film, the director and the editor relied too much on the simple jump cut between shots. Smoother transitions and composing techniques would have afforded variety and reduced the repeated abruptness between shots.

Who Might Like It: Couples and singles who enjoy decent acting and group gropes.

Who Won't: The raincoat crowd and gonzo fans.

Audio: Is clear for the most part and is not marred by echoes that are so prevalent in cheaper productions. Only a couple of lines are inaudible without the volume up so high it would wake the kids.

Video: Clear, very little pixelation or jaggies, flesh tones are natural; a very decent transfer in my opinion. Camera work is good, with a fair mix of medium shots and close-ups. There is one problem when Vivid's multi-angle logo appears on the screen and the contrast fades on the last scene. May I suggest that DVD authors display a very small dot high up in the screen's corner to highlight a multi-angle scene? Vivid's logo is huge, covering about an eighth of any screen's area. Other authors use the blinding white blinking camera logo to signal multi-angle takes. These are not needed and they distract from the picture, and therefore one's enjoyment of the action. Viewers can see a little tiny dot to switch angles. If we were blind, we wouldn't be watching these things anyway (no offense to the blind).

Music: Synthesized, runs the gamut from electronica, to jazz, to alternative rock, it doesn't overpower the scenes and for the most part, does not repeat endlessly; pillow talk is still audible over the music.

Run Time: 01:19:09

The Flick: After watching Inari and Devon walking on a sidewalk together during the opening roll of the credits, one might wonder how or why we're suddenly flung into Keki's oral attack on Bobby in a supply room. Sit back and enjoy it. The music is catchy and although it somewhat overwhelms their verbal jostling for a bit, the physical interplay between these two powerhouses is worth watching. Mutual admiration of the digital sort jump cuts to a missionary over a card chair; it looks kind of uncomfortable but Keki pulls it off. While Devon is sharing the scoop on her boyfriend with Inari, sitting on the stoop outside an apartment building, Bobby doggies Keki to a feverish finale.

Inari soon realizes that Devon's talking about her own guy, and put-upon Bobby has to open Bonn's apartment door for them. This was only Devon's second year in the business and her 10th film (according to the only chronological filmography I could find), and Inari had only been in the business about a year and a half longer, but they both do a great job with the dialog here. Inari, especially, evinces a natural and sexy subtlety. When Bobby enters, he reminds one of a hard core "Joe Garelli" from "Radio City". Devon's pissed but Inari is intrigued by the situation and their conversation becomes both introspective and a little tense. Bonn shows up and the girls hide, and they hear him leave identical phone messages on both of the girls' answering machines. While James screws around, thinking he's alone, Devon masturbates just out of sight. When she loses her balance, her cover is blown.

Bonn must have something that the rest of us don't, because even though both Devon and we know that he's lying through his teeth (Inari's listening from the laundry room, so she knows, too), he sweet talks himself down to her nether regions. When Devon mentions Kara's name, Inari abruptly enters, declaring that it's time to talk. What they're both angry about is his lying and using the same lines on both of them. After a drink, Devon begins rationalizing Bonn's fear of loneliness with his need to have two girlfriends. Inari is turned on, however, and coaxes Bonn to the bedroom. Through a background of jazz, Inari fellates Bonn with some spite sex dialog between blows. As they move into a sixty-nine and then missionary, the music turns into a Doors tribute. The Vivid DVD logo appears, denoting a multi-angle scene. However, these are not multi-camera shots of the same scene at the same time, but lags between camera angles used throughout. My recommendation is to stay on the original angle through the scene (and throughout the movie, for that matter). Devon is watching from the hall as Inari moves on top of Bonn, and after another switch, he jacks off on her back.

Inari showers and Devon follows, and then Bonn, and the reflective conversation between the three begins again. Devon's still pissed but doesn't resent Inari's roll in the hay with Bonn. She says that she was with other people while she was in the relationship with Bonn, but she didn't lie to them like he did to her, she didn't tell them she loved them. When Bonn and Inari ask how many, Devon says "Two ... two women," and we segue into Devon's "memory" of the encounter. Bonn and Inari trail along in this flashback fantasy, with Devon entering into a ménage a trois with thigh-high booted and corseted Devinn Lane and Maya Devine, while still addressing Bonn and Inari in reality.

The scene is shot on a divan in front of what appears to be the LA skyline, and Devon begins as centerpiece. Maya fingers and spanks her, while Devinn keeps her front end occupied. There are too many delightful curves to count here, as the girls start slowly and roll toward a low boil. Between shots of Bonn and Inari totally absorbed with the three girls' energy in front of them, Devinn then becomes the center of attention with Devon between her legs and Maya coming over the top to lend a hand. Devinn uses a dildo on Maya's ass while she 69's with Devon, and then Maya manipulates a long, rose-colored, double-ender to finish off the other two.

Inari confesses that she also had a relationship while dating Bonn, and continuing the fantasy motif, enters a room naked where Evan Stone, Robert's "best friend," Ted, awaits her. It's Devon's turn now to sit beside a squirming Bonn while Inari reminisces, and we see the same thing Inari visualizes. Their creative coupling takes place on a large ottoman, beginning with Stone's lively licking of her labia, until she's turned around and mouthing him. Inari looks and acts very turned on as Evan enters her both doggy and missionary without using his hands, and Inari's nipples are erect and stiff. These two are obviously attracted to each other and their chemistry spawns sweaty orgasms for both.

Bonn is not happy. He thinks the girls are being malicious and spiteful, and things just couldn't get any worse. But in the bathroom, Inari tells Devon that she can understand why Bonn was loving on her as she hungrily eyes Devon's voluptuous body. In the bathtub they pet and kiss and coo, and then ask Bonn what he's waiting for. Bonn devours Devon's bare pussy with Inari holding her up from behind, and then Devon sucks on Inari while Bonn holds her up, also from behind, pinching her nipples. Jump cut to the girls' tag-teaming Bonn's cock, and then Inari moves behind Devon and gives her a couple of righteous spanks on her bottom. The scene suddenly moves to a bed, and Devon holds Inari's head in her lap while Bonn pumps Inari missionary. Throughout this scene both girls are aggressive with each other, as if there was some competition between them. A couple of spanks that Inari gave to Devon in the bathtub shot appeared to really surprise her. Another jump cut to Bonn doing Devon doggy with her head between Inari's thighs, and then another with Bonn spooning Inari with her head between Devon's legs, four-fingering her. Finally, Bonn jacks off on Devon's tits. It's good to be king.

Menus: If you've seen one Vivid DVD menu, you've seen 'em all. The main menu is simply organized with View the Feature (doesn't start the movie, but goes to a sub-menu to pick one of nine chapters between opening and end credits), Award Winning Sex scenes, Intel sex game (more sex scenes), Meet the Girls (Vivid's contract girls -- includes Devon but no other actresses in this movie), Bad Girls (more sex scenes), and Web, which is an advertisement to visit Vivid DVD. The viewer can pick all of these menu items or use the hokey "Virtual Environment Control" to find these things by "walking" through a 3D dungeon.

Extras: The Meet the Girls section consists of several stills of each Vivid contract girl with virtually no information (this movie was so early in Devon's career that the only title credited to her here is Blondage: Extreme Close-Up, but she'd done eight other films since then). The package advertises four hours of fun; the movie runs 80 minutes, so there must be 40 minutes worth of additional sex clips footage on the main disc, plus another two hours on a second disc. The second disc is double-sided, one consisting of 45 Raw and Wave DVD title previews, and the other consisting of Vivid "Promo" material. There are 22 Wave previews from Vivid's older catalog such as Ginger on the Rocks, On Trial 2, and American Pie. The Raw previews are mostly gonzo material such as The Watcher 1 and 2, On the Prowl, and Action Sport Sex titles. The Promo side's production date is March 11, 2000, or 11 months after the main film's production date. This side of the extra disc contains a standard Vivid menu (as described above). Previews are different than those on the main disc and run the gamut from Bad Wives to Shipwreck. The Award Winning Sex section is also different (from Blondage to Tropic of Eros, and including a scene from this feature, Three), and the Bad Girls section has other clips from films like Chasey Loves Rocco and Where the Boys Aren't 8. All in all there are scads of clips to look at throughout the two disc set (but I failed to add their running times up to see if everything comes out to four hours ... we'll have to trust Vivid on this claim).

Themes: Straight, girl-girl, dildo play, group.

Conclusion: As of the date of this review Three is priced from $14 to $38 (the guys selling for $38 won't be in business long, I'm afraid). I'm going to stick my neck out on this one and because I think it can sustain repeated viewings, recommend it for your personal "couples" library at the lower price range, or through Adult DVD Talk's Kickback program. And by all means do a price search on this site, there are always bargains to be had. If you have any reaction or comments about this review, please e-mail me at CovertPost@my.adultdvdtalk.com -- CP