Art Vandelay I have an iron-clad rule that any movie with slo-mo is a dog. It's usually a bad sports-themed movie that needs slo-mo to make things seem more dramatic than they really are. It could be a romantic movie where two lovers ran slo-mo across a beach toward each other's out-stretched arms. In this case it's two lovers playing a sport (ping-pong) over the opening credits. And sure enough, the movie is a bowzer. Especially laughable is watching two members of the Elvis Presley generation cavorting to faux rock & roll. There's a little fake Beatles (OK, Ravi Shankar) and some fake Led Zeppelin, and who knows what else. Susannah York is as inert is radon. At certain points I thought Michael Caine was about to fall asleep. At least Liz games it up in that fright wig. She deserved better material.

bkoganbing X,Y&Z stars that romantic trio of Elizabeth Taylor, Michael Caine, and Susannah York. I'm thinking Richard Burton must have been working on another project so Michael Caine was substituted in a part that seemed clearly written for Burton.Caine and Taylor are a pair of married somethings who are starting to look a lot like George and Martha from Who's Afraid Of Virginia Woolf. That would be another 20 years or so. At the moment they still have a lot of life and lovers to experience. But for reasons not fully explained Taylor resents York, a widow with two small children far more than any of the others Caine has had. She no doubts sees a slightly younger version of herself. It really is because while the two women are having a most civilized lunch to amicably dispose of the matter of Caine, York says something to Taylor that really reminds her of herself. Something that later Taylor uses to her advantage. At the end we don't really know what's in store for this triangle.Caine and Taylor have the showier roles, but York gives a nice understated performance. Not one hint of the end I will reveal, but it really does kind of blow Caine's mind.I'm sure this had Richard Burton in mind originally. Watch and see if you don't agree.

Kenneth Anderson "X, Y & Zee" is a timepiece from that awkward, transitional period in Elizabeth Taylor's career when her legendary Hollywood glamour began to give way to a more earthy blowsiness. Unfortunately, her film choices during this phase suggest a disinterest in doing any actual acting and more of a penchant for taking on roles that suited her personal needs (exotic locations, proximity to husband and family, size of paycheck, etc.)If the title "X, Y & Zee" suggests a love triangle, then you'll know all there is to know about this colorful but airless game of sexual one-upmanship where the clothes and decor are more interesting than the people inhabiting them. Two years later Hal Ashby's "Shampoo" would skewer these amoral, directionless types more entertainingly.Perhaps thinking she had a mod, swinging London update of "Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?" on her hands, Taylor as Zee once again allows herself to be cast as the braying, shrill harpy to a weak, watery-eyed husband (the always charming Michael Caine). Taylor and Caine have one of those functional dysfunctional marriages that are probably an accurate representation of what comprise many so-called happy marriages. Regrettably neither performer is able to make me believe that they were ever a couple in the first place. They just don't fit. That wounded hound dog Richard Burton would have been much better.Anyhow, things get shaken up pretty quickly once Caine sets eyes on pretty, husky-voiced boutique owner, Susannah York and starts romancing her right under Taylor's heavily made-up nose.As the trio uncomfortably navigate the decidedly choppy waters of love and sex, the film struggles mightily to be bitchy and witty and NOW but never heats up much and has nothing up its sleeve but a pretty nice final act (it probably was a good deal more daring back in 1972). York, as always is an exceptionally interesting actress, but her character sometimes makes even less sense than Taylor's and Caine's. For me, the single most fascinating element of the film was Susannah York's shag haircut. What a weird hairstyle. Glistening, shining, intricately layered and geometrically perfect, it is the one image that has stayed with me long after the film had ended.

gridoon Audacious, totally off-the-wall trash about architect Michael Caine, who is stuck in a hopeless, almost masochistic marriage with half-crazy Elizabeth Taylor, and begins an extramarital affair with Susannah York, who nonetheless has secrets of her own....Because of the movie's cast, and of the fact that you've probably never heard of it, you might think that it could be an undiscovered gem. Alas, this is not the case. We never even get a handle on the characters; any resemblance between the way these people talk and behave and the way REAL people talk and behave is strictly coincidental. York comes closer to portraying a recognizable human being, but not close enough. (**)