Product: The Next Best Thing (2000)
Rating: 2.0
It Could Have Been A Lot More...
"Chosen Family" is an important concept to gay and lesbian people. Abbie (Madonna), a straight yoga instructor, and Robert (Rupert Everett), a gay landscaper, are best friends and, more importantly, chosen family. They've been through a lot together, so when they have drunken sex one night and Abbie ends up pregnant, they decide to move in together and raise the child together in their own little unconventional family. Neither of them counts on Abbie meeting someone and falling in love. When it happens, things take a nasty turn that ends in the courtroom.As much as I love Madonna, there's a reason why most of her movies flop. With the exception of Evita, she seems to have very bad taste in movie scripts. This one is slightly better than some of her other choices, but it's really not all that special and it can't seem to decide what it wants to be, romantic comedy or serious family drama. Madonna and Rupert never seem to really inhabit their characters. Over all, it's rather depressing. This movie definitely falls far short of what could have been a powerful statement about modern families and gay parents. Not recommended.