Background: Have you ever wanted to see a movie, but you have this vague feeling that maybe you won’t like it, and you don’t know why? That perfectly describes me and The Best Man. I have long been interested in the film—the cast alone made me want to see it—so when I saw it on sale at Walmart in a 3-pack with Deliver Us From Eva and Something New, I picked it up. (Something New is the only one of the three I’d seen previously, and I knew I liked it a lot.)
Plot: Harper (Diggs) is a novelist whose first book—which is more than loosely based on his college experience—is about to be released. This release coincides with his friends Lance and Mia’s wedding. As the college friends gather together to celebrate Lance & Mia’s nuptials, long-buried secrets are revealed.
Reactions: About halfway through the film, I realized why I had that vague "I don't know if I'll like this" feeling—my sister watched the movie last year and told me all about it! She was especially troubled by Lance, as was I ... which you'll see in a minute.
I really wanted to like this movie. I mean, what’s not to love about Taye Diggs? Here’s the thing, though: the plot is terrible! First of all, why on earth would you write about a one-night stand you had with your best friend’s girl if you hadn’t previously confessed it to the friend? This is the major conflict in the film—trying to keep Lance from reading the book so he won’t find out that Harper once slept with Mia, and then, following his discovery, trying to convince him to go through with the wedding.
Then there's Harper, who views this wedding as a second chance with Jordan (Long), the one that got away. Nevermind that he's in a two-year relationship with Robin (Lathan). The night of the bachelor party, Jordan invites him to spend the night, and he would have, had Lance not discovered Harper and Mia's one night stand. Yet the next day, Harper is somehow ready to propose to Robin, and she accepts, knowing that he nearly slept with Jordan? Give me a break!
My biggest beef, though, is with Lance. Lance—by far the most promiscuous of the bunch—claims to be a Christian. After he messes up, he apologizes, goes to the Bible for comfort, and then cheats on Mia again. Apparently amid all the (sometimes obscure) Scripture he memorized, he neglected John 8, where Jesus tells the woman caught in adultery to "Go and sin no more." He is publicly vocal about his faith ... but his public and private personas don't match up at all. I’m not saying I expect Hollywood to portray Christianity accurately, but to have Lance be the only Christian in the film perpetuates the idea that all Christians are total hypocrites. Also, there is a fair amount of sexuality in the film and an even larger amount of cursing, which makes my decision easy …
Verdict: Throw away (Thank you, whoever designed this 3-pack, for giving each film its own disk!)
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