The Next Best Thing
rated PG-13 107 minutes Paramount Pictures starring Rupert Everett, Madonna, Benjamin Bratt, Lynn Redgrave, and Neil Patrick Harris written by Thomas Ropelewski directed by John Schlesinger
A Review by Frankie Paiva
How many times have you saw a well-known model or music star try their hand at acting? It happens quite often, and usually has disastrous results. Even though Madonna has made several film appearances, I still don't find her that good of an actress. This picture will probably do nothing to forward her (or Rupert Everett's for that matter) acting career. The material presented here is just way too soapy and extremely sad to do anything good for the two of them, or anything good for the audience.
Abbie (Madonna) is one hip forty year-old chick. She has her own yoga studio, friends, and a good life, but she wants more. Her husband Kevin (Michael Vartan from Never Been Kissed), is leaving her and she's afraid that she lost her only remaining chance to have a baby. Her biological clock is ticking. Seeking support and refuge, she spends the night at Robert's (Rupert Everett) house, her gay best friend. During a wild night, they consume one too many drinks, and the two of them have sex. Abbie discovers that she's pregnant and they decide to raise the baby together.
Things go well with their son Sam (Malcolm Stumpf) for several years. Then Abbie meets Ben (Bratt), a charming businessman from New York who decides to take a yoga class when he gets wrong directions to a gym. He asks her out for dinner and while at first Robert seems excited for Abbie, he starts doing all he can to sabotage the relationship. Since Abbie and Robert never married, he never had legal rights to the child, but when Ben proposes, what does that mean for the future of him and Sam?
I have divided this film into two halves. The film changes pace very quickly, just when things get going someone has to stop the thing for some added and unneeded drama. What starts out as a mildly funny comedy turns itself into a vicious custody battle drama, and to tell you the truth, none of it is all that interesting. I was drawn to Robert from the beginning, and he gives the audience someone to root for, but Abbie is a complete mystery. She's uninteresting from the start, and especially gets annoying when she starts caring more about herself, than about her child. The performances are pretty bad, considering Everett and Lynn Redgrave is in the cast. Madonna is god awful for beyond reasons I could list in this review, Bratt does nothing but look good and smile, and Everett is surprisingly duller than usual. The script does little to help, and shifts genres too quickly as I mentioned before. The movie does make great use of Don McLean's song "American Pie," it's featured twice in the movie, and Madonna did a cover of it for the credits. It is probably the only highlight of the movie.
This is just another Hollywood drama that goes all out to make people cry. I'm sure it will succeed. For people looking for a little happiness that the film's marketing promotes, you're better off renting Everett's An Ideal Husband. He's much more charming and funny in that picture, and the supporting cast is all there as well. This movie is in no way good, fun, or interesting, and it's not the next best thing to any of those either.
F
Frankie Paiva SwpStke@aol.com http://www.homestead.com/cinemaparadise/mainpage.html
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