Van Peebles breaks up the narrative with his main character, Turner, engaged in dialogues with himself as well as scenes of fantasy. Portions of the film are so choppy, with bits of dialogue repeated in different shots, that it is unclear whether the fragmentation was a deliberate aesthetic choice, or Van Peebles pieced together a feature length film with out-takes due to necessity. There are times when Story resembles a student film, which in a way it was, given what appear to be some extreme limitations in the budget.

There are also a couple of truly inspired moments of filmmaking. Early in the nightclub, Turner spots an attractive blonde. He begins to walk towards her, facing the camera, while the club patrons separate on each side of the screen, a parody of Moses walking between the waves of the Red Sea. Later, there is a shot of three men dancing, part of the sense of joy and uninhibited silliness in the night club. The camera takes advantage of the charismatic presence of Harry Baird, an actor too often underutilized during his lifetime. With the Nicole Berger as the woman, Story of a Three-Day Pass has a link between the French New Wave and what became part of the first wave of films by African-Americans to play in mainstream U.S. theaters.