The Best Man
(1999)
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A glossy romantic comedy, The Best Man centres on four college friends and the women in their lives, all brought back together for a wedding. Taye Diggs (How Stella Got Her Groove Back) plays the title character, a young writer whose first novel is a barely fictionalised account of his college days, featuring barely fictionalised versions of all his friends. This novel hasn't yet been released, but ambitious TV producer Nia Long (Soul Food) has snagged an advance copy in the hopes of getting an early interview with Diggs. Unfortunately, when this advance copy begins circulating among the college gang, they discover it reveals some secrets that may have a disastrous effect on the wedding. The Best Man features a handsome, charming cast and a propulsive story, but the female characters are poorly developed and the male banter is, to say the least, chauvinistic. This banter is mostly to comic effect, but by the end it still leaves a sour taste that the movie's happy ending doesn't counter. It does at least feature a particularly strong performance by Terrence Howard as an aimless but relentlessly honest member of the college quartet. --Bret Fetzer, Amazon.com |
Partly inspired by the exploits of his own grandfather, Pupi Avati's melodrama is set on the last day of the 19th century and deals its resulting symbolism with a heavy hand. Equally maladroit is the fact that Diego Abatantuono acquired his fortune in the United States, thus weaving a New/Old world thread into an already over-laden tapestry. There's no faulting Pasquale Rachini's sumptuous photography or the lavish attention to period detail. But there's something damningly novelettish about Inès Sastre's attempt to circumvent her marriage to doddering tycoon Dario Cantarelli by addressing her vows to Abatantuono, his dashingly mysterious best man.