The Next Best Thing (2000) Reviews

• Good Lord !

  geo3032000-06-14

  What´s this ? Stop ! Don´t buy a ticket for this ! Hollywood has to stop making trash like this. I mean.. there´s nothing bad about trash but this is nothing more than simply boring. A Film about woman who wants a kid and a father who is gay and not really the father and two other guys and some other gay guys and the mother who doesn´t know what she wants from another guy who´s not gay and what .... uuuurgh .. I´m sorry but I can´t see any more stupid films that end in a court room. If you write a script and you don´t know how to bring it to an end just choose a court room as the location. And why is Madonna such a nice person at the beginning of the film, such a cheap jerk in the middle of the film and so nice again at the end ? Why does she have to leave her best friend like that. Did they cut out the scene where a big stone falls on her head and she suddenly changes into an unfriendly bad person as well as the reverse scene ? And these stupid ... no ... it´s not worth writing about this any more.... just ignore this Film !

• She still can't act

  LittleOracle2002-04-15

  I had high hopes for this -- really, I did. I thought it would be a sweet, charming and tugging-at-the-heartstrings comedy. But I was TOO hopeful. Story in one sentence: two best friends (one gay, one straight) end up in bed together, have a son, raise him together, everything hunky-dory until she wants to marry someone else and the little family gets screwed up. Let's talk about what's the worst: the script, hands down. Everything is so spliced in or cut out it's just terrible. The transitions are so choppy, that we barely have enough time to understand the undeveloped characters -- they're just thrown at us and next thing you know, it's years later. It's unrealistic and it's too fictional to really understand or get into. Madonna is suffering from never finding Mr. Right, Rupert is the gay buddy that "somewhat" turns into the bad guy and poor Benjamin is just caught in the middle. We don't know WHO to hate in this movie -- that's pretty much the hard part. Everyone is in the bad guy role, they just don't fit it due to the fact they all need sympathy. As for Madonna, yes, it's obvious she took lessons. The problem would be that she is way too conscious of the camera. Her husband commented once that she needs to let the director direct -- and I think that's a huge problem with her performance. She is just "too beautiful" in this movie. I mean, she's supposed to be sobbing her eyes out and she looks up and is all glistening and pretty. Sorry, but in order for me to believe her I want to see it on her face that she's worried -- you know, red eyes, puffy cheeks, smeared makeup -- the works. Madonna had too much creative control in this and it's obvious. Her expressions don't fit her tone of voice either; she seems to blink consciously and doesn't have much expression -- but hey, close your eyes and listen to her and you'll see that she's making progress. All in all, a good storyline put to a bad script and bad performances. Anyone who tells you this is a great movie is obviously a star-struck Madonna fan.

• The Next Worst Thing

  monsterbug2001-02-23

  This movie definitely ranks among the worst director John Schlesinger has ever made. Visually brilliant movies like URBAN COWBOY seem long gone if compared to this - pardon me - extraordinary piece of crap! Madonna delivers an overwhelmingly shallow performance while Rupert Everett has to deal with her moron behavior as the film´s character Abbie. Maybe Madonna decided to make a movie about her coming of age as a superstar - searching for the right guy to raise her child with. I really think she deserves her husband in real life, Guy Ritchie. But I can´t bear her attitude towards her gay friend, whom she chooses to be the child´s father - played by Everett. First of all, she lies to him, saying he´s the father of her child. When she finally meets Mr. Right, she doesn´t seem to care about him any longer, treating him like an unloved being. Accordingly, she abducts the child from the shared apartment to solve the problem that unfolds when she meets her new lover. Correctly, Everett deems himself forced to take their case to a California court. It is there, however, that Everett learns Madonna has played tricks on him - since he isn´t the real father of the child. He is then - on top of everything - blamed with ruining Madonna´s life. Nobody asks how Everett must feel about the whole story.. I simply think that this movie is - apart from the terrible storyline - unbearable. You can´t just walk away with a film like this, which incorporates an attack on the self esteem of all gay men!! Madonna ought to stick to her music career at last, since she doing fine in that area. But I strongly advise her to keep her fingers off the filmmaking business! The movie is pure bad taste!!!!

• Very P.C. and raises serious questions in a light-hearted way

  Chris_Docker2000-06-18

  Madonna plays a women let down by one man too many. In a night of drunken excess, she sleep with her best friend - who happens to be gay. She is pregnant as a result and they decide to set up home as a family, remaining best friends as they take on the joint responsibilities of parenthood. Things get complicated as Madonna's character falls in love with a new suitor. Probably the most PC movie of the year. If any of the subject matter interests you, and especially if you like Madonna, go and see it. If well-told stories about nice gay men and children leave you cold, forget it. This doesn't take the Mickey out of gay people, neither does it sacrifice by way of caricature or cheesiness. Instead it raises real social questions about rights and responsibilities towards children, and without preaching.

• MUCH better than I expected

  JaynaB2009-08-11

  This movie is really a sleeper. I can see why people who watch it expecting a campy fiasco like Madonna made with Sean Penn would be disappointed or even p.o.'d. I avoided it for 9 years just on principle. In fact, during the first few minutes when I accidentally caught it on TV, I kept thinking, "Who is this actress who looks so much like Madonna but who can ACT????" This is really REALLY not a romantic comedy, no matter how light and funny it is initially. It is a more serious than usual role for both Madonna and Rupert Everett, and they both did very well. It is touching and funny, and might have suffered 9 years ago because the viewing public was not ready for the very realistic portrayal of these complicated questions about who is really "family" and why.