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The Next Best Thing is a 2000 American comedy-drama film directed by John Schlesinger (his final feature film before his death in 2003) about two best friends who have a child together and a custody battle years after. Starring Madonna, Rupert Everett, and Benjamin Bratt, it opened to the number-two position in the North American box office and poor critical reviews.

The Next Best Thing
North American theatrical release poster
Directed by	John Schlesinger
Written by	Tom Ropelewski
Produced by	Tom Rosenberg Leslie Dixon Linne Radmin Gary Lucchesi
Starring	Rupert Everett Madonna Benjamin Bratt Michael Vartan Josef Sommer Lynn Redgrave
Cinematography	Elliot Davis
Edited by	Peter Honess
Music by	Gabriel Yared
Production company	Lakeshore Entertainment
Distributed by	Paramount Pictures (United States) Buena Vista International (International)
Release date	March 3, 2000 (2000-03-03)
Running time	108 minutes
Country	United States
Language	English
Budget	$25 million
Box office	$24.3 million[1]

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.[2]

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."[3]

The film received a 19% approval rating on Rotten Tomatoes, based on 94 reviews, with an average rating of 3.8/10. The website's critical consensus states: "Story elements clash and acting falls short."[4] On Metacritic, the film has rating of 25/100 based on 31 reviews, indicating "generally unfavorable reviews".[5]

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.[1]

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:[6]

• Worst Director – John Schlesinger
• Worst Picture
• Worst Screenplay – Thomas Ropelewski
• Worst Screen Couple – Madonna and either Rupert Everett or Benjamin Bratt

Soundtrack

The Next Best Thing (Music from the Motion Picture)
Soundtrack album by Various Artists
Released	February 21, 2000
Recorded	1997–1999
Length	49:31
Label	Maverick Warner Bros.
Producer	Madonna William Orbit various
Singles from The Next Best Thing (Music from the Motion Picture)
"American Pie" Released: March 3, 2000

The soundtrack album was released by Maverick Records on February 21, 2000. It reached number 34 on the US Billboard 200 albums chart.[7] 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,[8] 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.[9]

Track listing

1. "Boom Boom Ba" – Métisse
2. "Bongo Bong" – Manu Chao
3. "Don't Make Me Love You ('Til I'm Ready)" – Christina Aguilera
4. "American Pie" – Madonna
5. "This Life" – Mandalay
6. "If Everybody Looked the Same" – Groove Armada
7. "Why Does My Heart Feel So Bad?" – Moby
8. "I'm Not in Love" – Olive
9. "Stars All Seem to Weep" – Beth Orton
10. "Time Stood Still" – Madonna
11. "Swayambhu" – Solar Twins
12. "Forever and Always" – Gabriel Yared

Charts

Chart (2000)	Peak position
Austrian Albums (Ö3 Austria)[10]	16
German Albums (Offizielle Top 100)[11]	19
Swiss Albums (Schweizer Hitparade)[12]	55
US Billboard 200[7]	34

See also

• List of lesbian, gay, bisexual, or transgender-related films by storyline

References

External links

• The Next Best Thing at IMDb
• The Next Best Thing at AllMovie
• The Next Best Thing at Rotten Tomatoes
• The Next Best Thing at Metacritic
• The Next Best Thing at Box Office Mojo

На других языках

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[de] Ein Freund zum Verlieben

Ein Freund zum Verlieben (The Next Best Thing) ist eine Filmkomödie mit Benjamin Bratt, Rupert Everett und Madonna aus dem Jahr 2000.

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- [en] The Next Best Thing

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[es] The Next Best Thing

The Next Best Thing (en Hispanoamérica: Una pareja casi perfecta, en España: Algo casi perfecto) es una película protagonizada por Madonna y Rupert Everett, cuyo título original en inglés es The Next Best Thing

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[ru] Лучший друг (фильм, 2000)

«Лучший друг» (англ. The Next Best Thing — американский кинофильм 2000 года, последний фильм режиссёра Джона Шлезингера. Премьера состоялась 3 марта. Специально для фильма Мадонна исполнила новую версию песни Дона Макклина «American Pie».

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