Product: The Next Best Thing (2000)
Rating: 2.0
John Schlesinger hits rock bottom with this effort
Amber (Madonna) is a single woman in her late 30s whose biological clock is ticking, but she is unable to find the right man to father her child. Her ex has just dumped her so her loneliness leads her to seek comfort in the arms of her best friend Robert (Rupert Everett) who happens to be gay. But one 4th of July the drunken pair have a one night stand. Just one of those stupid spur of the moment things; not unlike shampooing your hair with methylated spirits and drying it off with a blowtorch. Life is strange. Well, Madge ends up preggers and wants to keep the baby. But soon she falls in love with Benjamin Bratt...The unconventional family angle present here will raise the ire of many a United Future MP (which in my opinion is always a good thing), but really that's the only positive comment I can make about this drivel. THE NEXT BEST THING is by turns unconvincing, pompous and soapy. How could John "Midnight Cowboy" Schlesinger of all people, make a movie like this?However, there are a few unintentional laughs scattered here and there. Early on Madonna screams at her ex, just before he leaves her: "What you want is a bimbo! And that's exactly what you deserve!". Dramatic irony? Speaking of dramatics, Madonna's acting is still awful (her accent is fluctuating between Brit and Yank), but she's still quite attractive here. Obviously the lighting tech on this film was really deserving of his paycheck. The movie gets 2 stars simply because it's still far superior to Madonna's most recent cinematic regurgitation, SWEPT AWAY. But just because I use the word "superior" it doesn't mean this is any good either. Anyhoo; each to their own, I say.Extras include the trailer, cast and crew interviews and Madonna's video of her butchering AMERICAN PIE.