About the movie

One girl. Two boys. Three combinations. Quirky comedy about a bisexual triangle in which a young woman lusts after a young man who's attracted to a young man who only has eyes for the girl. Coming-of-age movie which is sometimes fascinating, sometimes to dumb for words. Witty one-liners galore, but they don't save this often ridiculous film. First-timer Andrew Fleming (who would later direct The Craft) wrote the script and directed the movie.

Starring Lara Flynn Boyle, Josh Charles and Stephen Baldwin.
Produced by Brad Krevoy and Steve Stabler.
Directed by Andrew Fleming.

About the music

Because of the brevity of the American Buffalo-score, the people at Varèse were kind enough to include a twelve-minute suite of music from Threesome on this disc. Good thing they did, because American Buffalo isn't Newman's most interesting score and many fans had asked to see a release of this score since the movie was released in 1994. Why this suite wasn't included on the short song-compilation that came out with the movie, remains a mystery. The first track of the suite (Different Species) introduces a quirky theme for pedal steel and electronics. It's basically a movie about sex, so it's really no real surprise that it begins with some gasping and groaning (by Lara Flynn Boyle). More surprising is the second track, a Caribbean-style piece of lounge music, composed by Bill Bernstein, along the lines of Newman's song on the soundtrack of The Great Outdoors. After that, the mysterious Threesome-theme (track 14) hints at the "deviant" sexual activities of the friends for the first time. With its synth bells and added strings, it sounds like the love theme from Up Close and Personal gone crazy. The score is playful and funny, but at the same time reveals the tragic and dark undertones in the lives of the characters. The suite closes with a reprise of the opening theme, bringing the score to a full circle (how symbolic!). Once again, Newman has composed a score which is far superior to the movie it was written for.

The soundtrack

Street date: September 1996.
Availability: out of print.

At the time of the movie's release (March 1994), a soundtrack-album from Threesome was released by Sony (57881) with songs by a.o. General Public, Bryan Ferry, Duran Duran, U2, The The and Tears For Fears. This album is still widely available. No Thomas Newman-music is on this disc.

Track listing

American Buffalo

1. Buffalo Head (2:43)
2. Classical Money (1:33)
3. Bobby (0:54)
4. What Kind Of This (2:10)
5. Jaw (1:11)
6. Bobby Bobby Bobby Bobby (1:22)
7. King High Flush (1:01)
8. Nothing Out There (1:24)
9. Chump Change (1:17)
10. The Guy (1:20)
11. Tails You Lose (2:43)