Amidst the current conversation about a male loneliness epidemic comes director Peter Ney’s relevant romantic dramedy, 3. When Kai (Caleb Ruminer), an elementary school art teacher, is let go so the school can focus on test scores, he goes directly to a nearby biker bar to drown his sorrow. He is approached by a man who claims to know the future, an oracle, played by Eric “I’ll-do-anything-for-money” Roberts. For the cost of a few shots of premium booze, the oracle tells Kai his fortune. One of his prognostications is that he will die in three days. Kai and the bartender (Jesus Reyes) initially write the man off as a grifter hustling drinks. Their skepticism turns to amazement when he accurately predicts the events of the next few minutes.
The following day, Kai encounters an Episcopal priest named Father Joe (Michael Paré), who gives Kai encouragement in the form of a “Carpe Diem” inspirational talk. He exhorts Kai to reach out to those he loves and tell them. It’s like Father Joe knows something.
As the oracle’s predictions start to come true, Kai begins to accept the chilling probability of his own demise in three days’ time. The most significant deficit in Kai’s 30 years is that he’s never found true love. Whether because of focus on his art or the luck of the draw, it’s just never happened.
Kai goes to the doctor to check his health, where he meets a beautiful nurse named Mia (Anna Grace Barlow), the same woman he’d had an awkward moment with in the bar the night before. He apologizes for that and asks her out for coffee…but this is interrupted by a panic attack that she helps him through.
“For the cost of a few shots of premium booze, the oracle tells Kai his fortune. One of his prognostications is that he will die in three days.“
After a rocky start, sparks fly between them, and he realizes that Mia is everything he’s been missing. It’s a bittersweet epiphany. They experience an intense courtship over the next few days. Will Kai die as predicted? Can discovering the love of your life be compressed into that time?
That Kai hasn’t known love stretches suspension of disbelief. He is a smart, young, well educated, good looking, personable guy. He’s also a considerate man. As a teacher he shows great care for the students. He has no red flags in terms of misogyny, a violent nature, substance abuse, or the like. His troubles in life are that his career hasn’t panned out, and he is suffering trauma from having made the decision to remove his cancer-stricken father from life support. But, there is no apparent reason for him to never have found love. Another improbability is that Mia would go for the guy with no job who is having a panic attack in the waiting room. Romance story logic is its own thing.
3 follows rom-com conventions, featuring a soundtrack with the expected schmaltzy pop numbers, which is a bit saccharine but inoffensive. Jokes about his cameo aside, Eric Roberts’ appearance as the oracle provides a powerful fulcrum for the plot turn on. Michael Paré still commands a compelling screen presence as the priest. Who remembers Eddie and the Cruisers? Ruminer and Barlow have the chemistry you want in an on-screen romance.
Ney and screenwriter Michael K. Ward have crafted an entertaining, playful romance with serious undertones. None of us knows how much time is left, but we do know life is short, and the reminder in the message is not to wait. Seize the day.
Learn more at the official 3 website.
"…an entertaining, playful romance with serious undertones."
