Three and Out (4 Stars)

After watching a film I usually consult Wikipedia before beginning to write my review. This often gives me additional insight into the film's background that I can build into my review. After watching "Three and Out" 18 months ago I went to Wikipedia and read that the film is a comedy. Oh. I didn't find anything funny about it. I didn't laugh once. When I watched it again today I already knew it's supposed to be a comedy, so I had that thought in the back of my head.

Yes, I can understand the humour now, but it's a very dark, morbid humour. It's a film about suicide, and that's not a subject that makes people roll on the floor laughing. We're invited to laugh at people who want to die, making it a similar subject matter to Ricky Gervais' excellent TV series "After Life". "Three and Out" doesn't make any statements supporting or opposing suicide, it's just presented as something that people do. And it's funny.

At the risk of giving away spoilers, the film's happy ending is that the man who spends the whole film wanting to die finally finds the courage to stand in front of a train, dressed in his best pin stripe suit. That's funny, isn't it?

Maybe.

It's not just about suicide, it's about assisted suicide. The train driver sees Tommy Cassidy standing on the tracks as he exits a tunnel and accelerates towards him.

The film has a simple but tragic plot. Paul Callow is a train driver for the London Underground. As he pulls into a station he hits a man whose dog pulls him onto the rails. Splat! A week later a man has a heart attack and collapses in front of his train. Splat again! Then he hears about a rule in the company that if a driver kills three people within a month he's considered too mentally damaged to continue to work, and he'll be given 10 years salary as a golden handshake. That's too good an offer for Paul to pass by, as a man who hates his job and hates London even more.

Paul sees Tommy Cassidy attempting to kill himself by jumping off a bridge. He saves him, then says that he should commit suicide differently, by standing in front of his train. Paul gives Tommy £1500 to spend however he wants, as long as he's standing on the railway line at 10:06 am the following Monday.

Paul spends the weekend with Tommy to protect his investment, but a relationship develops between the two men. How can Paul kill someone he likes so much? He also falls in love with Tommy's daughter.

Well, I suppose you can call that falling in love. It's all a matter of definition.

I don't blame him. I would fall in love with Gemma Arterton as well. Something about her face is fascinating, I don't know what it is.

You ought to watch this film whether you find this film funny or not. It's only available on DVD in England and America, but it's been released on Blu-ray in Germany.

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