THE BEST MAN RATING: 8 /10 -->Great movie
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Pretty weird. Here I was thinking about how much this film reminded me of BEAUTIFUL GIRLS (8.5/10) as I walked happily out of the movie theatre, and how great it was that director Malcolm Lee got his first big break via his more famous cousin's help (Spike Lee ya'll), that I realized that the former film was also directed by a novice at the game of directing, Ted Demme, who also happened to have a much more famous uncle in the biz (Jonathan Demme anyone?). Oh well. Just thinking out loud.
PLOT: A best man at a wedding comes together with his old college buddies a couple of days before the exchange of the vows, and is suddenly placed under a magnifying glass when his first novel (To be launched on Oprah, thank you very much!) gets premiered by all of his friends. It isn't long before each friend begins to recognize themselves in the book and learn secrets about one another which they never knew.
CRITIQUE: Great film, great script, great premise and great characters. This film was funny, it was poignant, it was timely (Okay, maybe that's just me, but it's definitely geared to all twenty-somethings), it was always interesting and an overall joy to absorb. The film talks about coming of age, career and love-life sacrifices, accepting adulthood, and even more so, appreciating commitment. I hope people don't avoid this film because they think it's just another "black movie" because this film has absolutely nothing to do with the color of one's skin. It's about love, friendship, trust, honesty, and forgiveness. But even more than that, it's about a bunch of guys, each of which I could relate to one or a few friends in my own life, who meet, drink, play poker, enjoy a certain night of bachelor fun, and who discuss women, their lives, their hopes, their dreams and once again, their relationships and impressions of the women in their lives. In fact, a lot of frank discussion travels along this film, as well as plenty of well-timed humor and romance.
Girls might enjoy this film a little more for that aspect (Yes, Mrs. JoBlo loved it!), but guys will remain in the ballgame with plenty of connection to the lively male characters, all living down something or another in their lives. Congratulations to director Malcolm Lee for putting together such a solid effort his first time around the bend, with excellent performances all around. I especially enjoyed Morris Chestnut's performance as the over-sexed, but ready-to-settle-down-now football player who wants to get married so that he could quench his promiscuity. The audience that I saw it with tonite loved this movie and demonstrated their enjoyment with plenty of spontaneous rounds of laughter and applause filling the house. They, as well as me, I must admit, also hooted and hollered at the presence of actor Taye Diggs without his shirt every so often (Mark Wahlberg: Part Deux?) with another Oscar-worthy performance by his rock-solid pectorals. Supporting nomination for his ass? :) Actually, I thought Diggs was okay in this film, but not as good as his smaller role in GO (8.5/10). Having said that, the film itself was a complete success, with plenty of fun, interesting twists and turns, moments of cringing, moments of crying and moments of flashbacks. A little too clean of an ending for my taste, but hey...I guess some happy endings do also happen in real life, right? See it with your friends or your better half, but not both together. It might just get ugly! :)
Little Known Facts about this film and its stars: Director Malcolm D. Lee is director Spike Lee's cousin. Spike was also producer on this film. Malcolm's only other screen credit before writing and directing this film was "assistant to Mr. Lee" in 1995's CLOCKERS. Spike Lee's birth name was Shelton Jackson Lee. He's been married since 1993, stands 5'5" and was actually born in Atlanta, Georgia (Being such a huge Knicks fan, folks generally tend to think that he was born there as well). I know Taye Diggs best from his slick role in one of the best movies of 1999, GO, but many others may remember him from his role of Benny, the evil landlord in the Tony Award winning stage production of "Rent", or his re-occurring role as Adrian "Sugar" Hill on TV "The Guiding Light" from 1997 to 1998. Of course, his big break came when he landed the lead role opposite Angela Bassett in 1998 HOW STELLA GOT HER GROOVE BACK. He was born in Rochester, New York and received a BFA degree in musical theater from Syracuse University. Actress Nia Long also spent some time on the cast of TV's "The Guiding Light" as the character of Katherine "Kat" Speakes from 1991 to 1993. Of course, most of you TV freaks might remember her from her re-occurring role of Lisa Smith, Will Smith's girlfriend, on "The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air".
Review Date: October 20, 1999 Director: Malcolm D. Lee Writer: Malcolm D. Lee Producers: Spike Lee, Sam Kitt and Bill Carraro Actors: Taye Diggs as Harper Stewart Nia Long as Jordan Morris Chestnut as Lance Sullivan Genre: Dramedy Year of Release: 1999 --------------------------------------- JoBlo's Movie Emporium http://www.joblo.com --------------------------------------- (c) 1999 Berge Garabedian
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