Two Ninas
 

It is every man's dream to date two wonderful women at once. However, for those that get the chance, the ugly reality usually sets in shortly, and what was once beautiful becomes horribly ugly. Writer/director Neil Turitz explores this dilemma in Two Ninas, a forgettable movie about a man who takes it one step further; both women have the name of Nina. Two Ninas is not bad, it just is not good. The three-way love triangle take up the bulk of the movie, and the three people involved are uninteresting. Two Ninas is yet another twentysomething film that appears and then disappears quickly, never to be heard from again.

Amanda Peet seems to be starring in many of these movies. Peet (Whipped, Isn't She Great) tends to play bubbly women that are brimming with cuteness. Here, she is Nina Harris, a slightly subdued version of her typical character. Marty Sachs (Ron Livingston, Beat, Buying the Cow) is a down-on-his-luck guy. He hates his job, cannot find an agent for his unpublished novel, and has no luck with women. Until he meets Harris and Nina Cohen (Cara Buono, Man of the Century, Takedown). He meets them separately, and through some strange incidence of luck, begins dating them both. Sachs is a nice guy at heart, so he is at a loss on what to do. He likes them both for different reasons. Harris is spontaneous, fun, and he enjoys the wild sex he has with her. Cohen is more thoughtful. They enjoy the same things, have the same sense of humor, and can talk deeply about things.

There really is nothing in this film that hasn't been beaten to death through the years. Is there really any surprise as to who Sachs ends up with? Or that somehow both Ninas will realize he is dating them both? The most interesting person is Dave (Bray Poor, Entropy, Anima), Marty's only friend and self-proclaimed jerk. He is the narrator, and provides some punchy observations about Marty and his predicament. Marty is boring because he is so anonymous. His character is inconsistent throughout the film, changing to suit the situation. Dave says he is bad at meeting women. He meets both Ninas the typical movie way that never happens anywhere else, then actually is pretty suave at wooing them. Later, he regresses back to the same sweet/neurotic personality that inhabits all decent men looking for women in movies. With boring people and familiar situations, the only thing left to redeem Two Ninas is the dialogue, which, sadly, offers up nothing new.

Mongoose Rates It: Not That Good.
1 hour, 30 minutes, Rated R for language.

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