Hmmmmm... Is this a film to look out for? Will this be one of the side swipes that Moriarty wasn't looking for? We'll have to wait and see, but this Mulder fella believes in this film, and is quite a bit passionate in backing that up. This is the debut film from Spike Lee's cousin... Malcolm Lee and folks... This movie actually sounds pretty darn good. We'll have to see what others say, how the trailers look, etc.... but thus far this year.... There have been some DAMN good comedies... will we end up adding this one to the list... will it top the list? Hmmmmm...
Harry --
Recently caught a screening of a new Universal picture. It's not out till October, but it played two weeks ago in roughcut form at New York's Urbanworld film festival. Of course, this was one of those "not for review" kind of affairs that the critics are currently decrying, but I thought (of course) that for this reason alone it might be worth lending a few words to on your site. The film is Malcolm Lee's THE BEST MAN, and I'd heard nothing about it before I sat down, save for the fact that Lee is indeed cousin to Spike, and that this was his first effort as a director and, I presume, writer. (I say "presume" because the print I viewed had no opening or closing credits.) What I saw surprised and excited me.
This is that rare thing nowadays, a thoroughly entertaining comedy that doesn't pander to its audience and rarely (if ever) steps wrong. It also, wonder of wonders, appears to have been written by human beings as opposed to a scene-allocated committee of twenty-three WGA members. So much has been made of the yawning gulf between black and white culture that's opened in the '90s, whether in music, film, or TV, that my fear here is that some studio marketing department types might decide to narrowcast to the urban market and sell this as a "black movie". That would be a mistake. Is JAWS a "white movie"? RESERVOIR DOGS? TERMS OF ENDEARMENT? HALLOWE'EN? TITANIC? Bullshit. THE BEST MAN features an all-black cast, but it's first and foremost a movie about P-E-O-P-L-E. What race they are is irrelevant. It'd be a shame if the previews end up getting cut to make this look like BOOTY CALL 2, because what unspools on screen is smart and fleet-footed and crowd-pleasing in the way that JERRY MAGUIRE or SHAKESPEARE IN LOVE were. (Yes, I realize that those are mainstream films. They're also, I think, well-written, well-directed, well-acted mainstream films. If you hated them, be assured you won't much like this.)
The story centres around a writer living in Chicago (Taye Diggs), who returns to New York to be the best man (get it?) at the wedding of an old college buddy. Only problem is, his about-to-be released first novel leans on the heavily-autobiographical side, and when an advance copy starts circulating among his friends who've gathered for the wedding weekend, all hell predictably breaks loose. Sure it's contrived, but no more than THE LADY EVE or SOME LIKE IT HOT or even TOOTSIE are contrived. THE BEST MAN has its roots in screwball comedy, but it plays more like an ensemble version of THE PHILADELPHIA STORY. Diggs, who was great in GO, anchors the movie with an easy charm that recalls Cary Grant. Nia Long, an actress I'm sure I've never seen act before, makes a great foil for him as his one-time college crush, now a driven but lonely TV producer. The dreadlocked Harold Perrineau, from ROMEO & JULIET, HBO's OZ and FIGHT THE BEAR (I mean, THE EDGE) is funny and likable as an amusingly pussy-whipped pal of Diggs, and the rest of the cast is a talented, distinct, attractive group of men and women who I'd be almost certainly singling out for lavish individual praise were it not for the aforementioned lack of credits. I will say this: Each one inhabits a thankless, oft-seen role (the Jilted Girlfriend, the Bitch Goddess, the Wisecracking Cynic) and, thanks to clever writing and perfect casting, makes it seem fresh. (In particular, the guy who plays the Wise-Cracking Cynic is a real find.) ENTERTAINMENT WEEKLY lazily compared this movie's plot to THE BIG CHILL in its Fall Preview issue, but what THE BEST MAN may yet have in common with CHILL (as well as DINER, AMERICAN GRAFITTI, and DAZED AND CONFUSED) is a reputation as a breeding ground for young talent.
Malcolm Lee's direction is very nearly classical in its order, simplicity and control. I watched it and kept thinking of George Cukor, Billy Wilder, Leo McCarey. True, Lee doesn't have the overheated, loose-cannon creativity of Cousin Spike, but he may have something more valuable here: a streak of old-fashioned showmanship that's refreshing to see nowadays. Look, I'm no old fogey, I'm 27, and I laughed my ass off at the part in the preview where the kid fucked the pie as much as anybody. I saw SOUTH PARK twice, I own EVIL DEAD 2 (doesn't everyone?), and, dammit, I LOVED this movie. Hell, it was just nice to see a black OR white comedy flick that didn't depend on foolishness, cruelty, or bathroom humour for its success. When Lee rolled out a bachelor party set-piece about halfway through, complete with strippers, my heart sank a little. But not only does he -- amazingly -- manage to shoot it tastefully, here's an example of why I think this movie works as well as it does. Perrineau's at the party, hysterically fielding angry phone calls from his bitchy, overbearing girlfriend. He ends up getting a lapdance from one of the strippers. Smitten, he follows the girl outside afterwards and asks for her number. Then -- get this -- the girl carefully and sweetly explains to him that she can't, because her job is about selling a fantasy. So she turns away, and Perrineau (who's a teacher, remember?) mutters an appropriate line of poetry to himself. At which point the girl, naturally, stops and turns. BECAUSE HE'S JUST QUOTED HER FAVOURITE POET!
Fine, maybe it sounds cheeseball. But since when are black strippers (let alone teachers with bitchy, overbearing girlfriends) in ANY movie even allowed to be smart and cultured and kind-natured? Trust me, the scene plays like a babydoll. As does most of this picture. The biggest problem I forsee is Universal getting white butts into seats. But hey, they got my white butt into a seat, kept it there for nearly two hours (please, please, don't cut anything out -- the movie runs long but never plays long), and at the end, I stood up and applauded along with everyone else.
At the risk of sounding like Peter Travers (too late?), note that I haven't loved much this year beyond ELECTION and the aforementioned SOUTH PARK. SIXTH SENSE, EXISTENZ and GO hover somewhere on that list, too, but not quite as far up. So take this for what it's worth: THE BEST MAN is the most satisfying HOLLYWOOD movie I've seen so far this year. And that's not faint praise.
Sign me --
Mulder
