Best Man Down

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R D I was warmly surprised that I liked this film. The cast was terrific, the story appealing. Justin Long & Addison Timlin were great. Rated 5/5 Stars •  Rated 5 out of 5 stars 10/29/24 Full Review donnie m trying to watch this now in 2024 because i've seen every other movie on but the husband is beyond a jerk-can't see what she sees in him-going to change the channel now...... Rated 1/5 Stars •  Rated 1 out of 5 stars 01/19/24 Full Review Audience Member Its a charming and heartwarming movie that goes in unexpected directions. Rated 5/5 Stars •  Rated 5 out of 5 stars 01/30/23 Full Review Audience Member I read the reviews (mostly negative) left by the critics. I agree with some of them but I think that the critics simply didn't understand the movie or didn't care to understand. This movie isn't a comedy but has comedy in it. This movie isn't a drama, but has some drama in it. This is one of those movies that is a mixed bag which makes it hard to define but I think that's what the director intended. What makes this movie difficult is the subject matter. The combination of drugs, family dynamics, and poverty is hard to watch. Movies like these hardly ever make sense. I think the one movie with this subject matter that was a hit with the critics is Requiem for a Dream. This movie seems sloppy (like some critic put it) but it really isn't. Poverty in America makes no sense either and yet, there it is, showing its ugly head everywhere. The acting is spectacular. I liked the part of the mom (Frances O'Connor is great here, deserved an Oscar). When drugs destroy the family from its core, the kids won't be alright. This is not a movie for everyone. This is not Disney. The ending is too sweet but I totally needed a release from all the angst, so I didn't feel bad (like when I watched Requiem for a Dream). I finished this movie with a lot of thoughts and without an existential crisis. This is a movie like Hillbilly Elegy without Glen Close. The difference here is that, although they're about the same type of movie, this one (Best Man) doesn't solve the problem as nicely as Hillbily, where the author went to college and went on to have a nice life. In Best man, the kid faces an uphill battle and her fate is unresolved. it is left to the audience to wonder about that and it's unsettling. This is not a movie for Mickey Mouse critics. Rated 5/5 Stars •  Rated 5 out of 5 stars 02/21/23 Full Review Audience Member Really good watch, could watch again, and can recommend. This honestly isn't a traditional comedy: it's more a mystery than a comedy. I'm not a big fan of Tyler Labine, but he does do charmingly hapless really well, and he carries the movie, even in the scenes where he's not there because the impression he lands is so palatable as they talk about him it really builds the character. While the rest of the supporting cast is incredibly well balanced, Justin Long and Addison Tomlin really run away with it. For a movie that is half about a couple with newly wed problems, all that really slids away in wake of this wonderful, heart warming tale of friendship and what it means to be family, blood or no. Rated 3.5/5 Stars •  Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars 02/18/23 Full Review Audience Member Minnesotans Scott (Justin Long) and his bride Kristen (Jess Weixler) are having their wedding in Phoenix. During the wedding, Kristin is put off by the obnoxious behavior of Scott's best man Lumpy (Tyler Labine). Lumpy gets extremely drunk and more annoying to the guests until he is cut off from the bar by Scott. Returning to his hotel room, Lumpy continues drinking and carrying on until he accidentally falls and cracks his skull before passing out. He awakens a short time later disoriented and bleeding, and gets himself locked out of the hotel. Wandering into the brush, Lumpy passes out and dies on top of a cactus. He is found the next morning and Scott and Kristen are informed. Since Lumpy was his best friend, Scott feels it is his duty to arrange for Lumpy to be returned to Minnesota for a funeral. Kristen is upset that her honeymoon will be postponed but she supports Scott in his decision. After arranging transport for the body, they return to Minneapolis to contact Lumpy's friends and plan the funeral. Meanwhile, in a small town in Northern Minnesota we are introduced to Ramsey Anderson (Addison Timlin), a fifteen-year-old girl living with her mom (Frances O'Connor) and her mom's boyfriend (Evan Jones). Her mom is a drug addict with a history of moving around, and her mom's boyfriend is a former soldier who has turned to cooking meth to make money. Ramsey catches the local priest (Michael Landes) with another man in his home and tacitly blackmails him out of $50, which she uses to purchase groceries for their house. Later on, she deliberately allows herself to be caught shoplifting cold medicine so that she wouldn't have to supply it to her mom's boyfriend and is bailed out by the same priest.Kristen and Scott find Ramsey's name in Lumpy's phone and try to contact her but she doesn't answer. They visit his old law school and job to try to locate Ramsey but discover that Lumpy suddenly quit school and was fired from his job for embezzling tips from the bar. The bar manager tells them that Lumpy was involved with some girl, whom they deduce to be Ramsey. After an uncomfortable argument at Christmas dinner, Kristen pushes Scott to drive up to Ramsey's town and find her... How many romcoms haven´t been produced the past years that are more or less the same. Same setup, same ending and no real surprises. When I red the DVD back cover of "Best Man Down" I wasn´t sure that this would be that different and I am not a real fan of Justin Long. However, I do like Addison Timlin and there was something about the film that seemed intriguing no matter what. I did buy it and low and behold I did get something different in the genre. I reckon I was expecting the normal romcom comedy routine, but we only sort of see that in the beginning of the film. As soon as Lumpy has passed away, the film turns into an compelling, emotional strong and partly dark drama with a focus on death, friendship and the bigger meaning of it and how you might take people for granted and who they are. The characters feels authentic and believable and I reckon Addison Timlin is doing one of her best roles so far and her touching performance is beautiful to watch. And I also enjoyed that the movie was set in Minnesota. Rated 3.5/5 Stars •  Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars 02/21/23 Full Review Read all reviews

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