The Next Best Thing

The Next Best Thing is a 2000 American comedy-drama film directed about two best friends who have a child together and a custody battle years after, and was the final film directed by John Schlesinger. Starring Madonna, Rupert Everett, and Benjamin Bratt, it opened to the number-two position in the North American box office and poor critical reviews.
==Plot==
Two best friends – a heterosexual woman Abbie and a gay man Robert – decide to have a child together. Five years later, Abbie falls in love with a heterosexual man and wants to move away with him and Robert's little boy Sam, and a nasty custody battle ensues.
==Cast==
*Madonna as Abigail "Abbie" Reynolds
*Rupert Everett as Robert Whittaker
*Benjamin Bratt as Benjamin "Ben" Cooper
*Michael Vartan as Kevin Lasater
*Josef Sommer as Richard Whittaker
*Lynn Redgrave as Helen Whittaker
*Malcolm Stumpf as Samuel "Sam"
*Neil Patrick Harris as David
*Illeana Douglas as Elizabeth Ryder
*Mark Valley as Cardiologist
*Suzanne Krull as Annabel
*Stacy Edwards as Finn
*William Mesnik as Ashby
*Linda Larkin as Kelly
==Production==
The film began as an original screenplay titled The Red Curtain by Tom Ropelewski, which he intended to direct, with his wife Leslie Dixon to produce. It was announced to be made in 1995 with Richard Dreyfuss attached to star as Robert; he dropped out, then Helen Hunt was named as female lead to play Abbie. She was replaced by Madonna and then Rupert Everett signed on as star. Filming took place between 23 April and 30 June 1999. It later was claimed the script was rewritten extensively by Ryan Murphy and Rupert Everett.
==Reception==
Roger Ebert gave the film one star, stating: "The Next Best Thing is a garage sale of gay issues, harnessed to a plot as exhausted as a junkman's horse."
The film received a 19% rating on Rotten Tomatoes, based on 93 reviews, with an average rating of 3.7/10. The website's critical consensus states: "Story elements clash and acting falls short." On Metacritic, the film has rating of 25/100 based on 31 reviews, indicating "generally unfavorable reviews".
===Box office===
The film opened at number two at the North American box office, making USD$5,870,387, behind The Whole Nine Yards. The film grossed $14,990,582 in the U.S. and $24,362,772 worldwide on a $25 million budget.
===Accolades===
The film was nominated as Outstanding Film at the 2001 GLAAD Media Awards.
Madonna won a Golden Raspberry Award for Worst Actress, and the film was nominated for other Razzies including:
*Worst Director – John Schlesinger
*Worst Picture
*Worst Screenplay – Thomas Ropelewski
*Worst Screen Couple – Madonna and either Rupert Everett or Benjamin Bratt
==Soundtrack==
The soundtrack album was released by Maverick Records on February 21, 2000. It reached number 34 on the US Billboard 200 albums chart. Madonna was executive producer on the soundtrack and hand-picked all the tracks that appeared. The album had two new songs from Madonna: "Time Stood Still" (an original track written and produced with William Orbit) and a cover of Don McLean's "American Pie". "Time Stood Still" reached the number 3 in Czech Republic, and the latter track was a number one around the world, climbing to the top of the charts in the UK, Italy, Australia, Germany, and Japan. The album also included tracks by Moby, Beth Orton, Christina Aguilera, and Groove Armada.
===Track listing===
#"Boom Boom Ba" – Métisse
#"Bongo Bong" – Manu Chao
#"Don't Make Me Love You ('Til I'm Ready)" – Christina Aguilera
#"American Pie" – Madonna
#"This Life" – Mandalay
#"If Everybody Looked the Same" – Groove Armada
#"Why Does My Heart Feel So Bad?" – Moby
#"I'm Not in Love" – Olive
#"Stars All Seem to Weep" – Beth Orton
#"Time Stood Still" – Madonna
#"Swayambhu" – Solar Twins
#"Forever and Always" – Gabriel Yared
Category:English-language films
Category:2000 comedy-drama films
Category:2000 LGBT-related films
Category:American comedy-drama films
Category:American films
Category:American LGBT-related films
Category:American pregnancy films
Category:2000s English-language films
Category:Films directed by John Schlesinger
Category:Films produced by Gary Lucchesi
Category:Films produced by Tom Rosenberg
Category:Films set in California
Category:Films scored by Gabriel Yared
Category:Gay-related films
Category:Golden Raspberry Award winning films
Category:Lakeshore Entertainment films
Category:LGBT-related comedy-drama films
Category:Paramount Pictures films
Category:Touchstone Pictures films
Category:Films starring Rupert Everett
Category:Films starring Madonna
Category:Films starring Benjamin Bratt
Category:Articles with red links
Category:Films on VHS
Category:Films on DVD
Category:1:85:1 Aspect Ratio Films