The Best Man (Universal, R)
Starring Morris Chestnut, Taye Diggs and Nia Long
Rating:
Two and one-half stars - More fun than being stood up at the altar, the Best Man is a minor winner.
Love, marriage, college newspaper melodrama and a best man with a few skeletons in the closet combine to form a funny and enjoyable crowd-pleaser in "The Best Man."
Taye Diggs stars as Harper Stewart, an up-and-coming author who is just about to release a book that has already been named Oprah Winfrey's Book of the Month. Stewart finds out that a few preview copies are already in circulation when he gets together for the wedding of his good friend and football star Lance (Morris Chestnut).
The leak wouldn't be so bad if it weren't for a few striking similarities between the fiction and real-life past indiscretions. Old feelings start to be felt again when Stewart sees Jordan (Nia Long). The two shared a kiss to the tune of Stevie Wonder's "As" in college, but never followed through on the sexual tension.
The wedding party is fortified with Murch (Harold Perrineau) and Quentin (Terrence Howard). Each are in the affluent circle of friends and cause their own problems in the wedding plans. Murch can't keep a secret, a dangerous fault with this group. Quentin, on the other hand, wants to see the inevitable confrontation between his friends. So he plants a few seeds of doubt so the dirty laundry will finally see the light of day.
Things start to get even more complicated when the novel hints that Stewart and Lance's fiance Mia (Monica Calhoun) once became a little more than friends one night years ago. Stewart soon resorts to trying to hide the book so no more problems arise in a wedding that should go perfectly, even though we know no wedding goes off without a hitch.
The story is very reminiscent of another ensemble dramedy, "The Big Chill." Entertainment Weekly made the poor decision to say in its fall movie preview guide that the movie was a "Big Chill" for the African-American community. Taye Diggs responded rightfully by saying that the movie deals with universal themes, without racial boundaries.
While the two movies are similar in format, each manages to make general comments about love and life without sounding the same. So, while both movies are successful in telling a great story, both speak to a much larger audience than those that the characters look like.
The actors in "The Best Man" create the illusion that each character seems like the lead character, so that even if you hate one of the characters, there are plenty of other meaty roles to enjoy.
The funniest performance is turned in by Perrineau. Playing a loose-lipped, girlfriend-whipped butt of all jokes, he steals practically every scene he is in.
A minor problem lies in Lance's character. While Lance fills his daily life with prayers, he is also a sexual beast that almost commits a murder. The believability of his faith is lessened in the end to see him so full of rage and conveniently praying after the fact. While convenient prayer may seem to be the case for many athletes that have done wrong, it is hard to be sympathetic towards this football player.
"The Best Man" can even be compared to Woody Allen's "Deconstructing Harry." Both show the problems with novelists writing about their friends. But the girls probably would not have screamed as loud if Woody was lounging around in his boxers instead of Mr. Diggs.
Diggs' appearance brings up an interesting point - this movie is a definite crowd-pleaser. From constant raucous laughter to the Beatle-esque girlie screams from the obviously stoked audience, whoever did the casting deserves at least a free dinner.
"The Best Man" is a movie that people will look back on a few years from now and see a classic performance from budding acting stars, much like "The Big Chill." Let's just hope that we don't have to refer to Taye Diggs as the next Jeff Goldblum, for Taye's sake.
Originally published in the 10/28/99 edition of the Northern Star.
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