THE BEST MAN A film review by Steve Rhodes Copyright 1999 Steve Rhodes RATING (0 TO ****): **
In writer/director Malcolm D. Lee's THE BEST MAN, old college chums are gathering for a wedding. Complicating their reunion is a new novel by one of them, Harper (Taye Diggs), that contains thinly veiled references to each of them.
Like a pleasant-enough pilot for a new television series, the good-spirited movie goes down easily, albeit not memorably. The exceedingly attractive actors and actresses have well-endowed bodies and play successful upper middle class professionals. Most scenes find them grinning from ear to ear, as they clearly enjoy their roles.
A typical scene has four male members of the cast sitting around a table as they play poker, drink beer and discuss sex and women. Although it may be authentic, the racial and sexist language may make some viewers feel uncomfortable. "You can't trust these bitches," Quentin (Terrence Dashon Howard) tells the others as his take on the female half of the world.
The good-natured poker fest ends in an argument when Quintin suggests the possibility that Mia (Monica Calhoun), the bride at the upcoming wedding, might have had other lovers just like the groom, Lance (Morris Chestnut), a football star with a famous libido. Believing in the old double standard, Lance comes unglued when Quintin suggests Mia might have experienced some of the same sexual freedom that Lance brags about.
Most of the movie has a light, breezy feel like its dreamy jazz music. People are always hugging each other and asking how the other is doing. In a movie that goes on a half-hour too long for a romantic comedy, these are among the scenes that are badly in need of trimming.
Eventually, Harper's book introduces complications in the friends' camaraderie. They accidentally begin to refer to each other with the names of their characters from his novel. By the end, the comedy turns serious as the wedding itself is put in jeopardy by certain revelations.
The movie contains few missteps, but the director never manages to make the material compelling. I'm an extremely emotional sort when it comes to weddings, and I cry at the weddings of people whom I barely know. But at the big wedding finale in this picture, it was the cast crying, not me.
THE BEST MAN runs way too long at 1:58. It is rated R for language, sex, brief nudity and mild violence and would be acceptable for teenagers.
Email: Steve.Rhodes@InternetReviews.com Web: http://www.InternetReviews.com
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