Word: madonna
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...Smith was awarded "Best Arrangement" at the quarterfinal competition for his work on the Madonna song...
Much like her off-screen persona, Madonna plays Abbie, a single yoga instructor with a long history of unsuccessful relationships. Abbie's Rock of Gibraltar is her best friend Robert (Everett), a gay landscape architect who has not been so lucky in love himself. The two are best friends in every sense of the word-in times of crisis, they rely on one another for solace, comfort and companionship. However, their platonic relationship is soon threatened by the death of a close friend-they consequently drown their sorrows away by indulging in an afternoon of cocktails, dancing and inebriated revelry...
...Midnight Cowboy, Sunday, Bloody Sunday and Marathon Man. While I do admire his attempt to stretch, Schlesinger, so skillful at creating dramatic conflict, does not appear to be as comfortable with the lighter material, and interplay between the various supporting characters often appears a little forced. This is clearly Madonna and Everett's show, and the supporting characters are not given enough to do and seem to exist simply to transition gaps in the storyline. As Ben Cooper, Benjamin Bratt (formerly of NBC's "Law and Order") is simply employed as an attractive man who conveniently stumbles into Abbie...
...Much of the discrepancy stems from the screenplay itself. The role of Abbie was originally envisioned as a swimming instructor, but after Madonna joined the cast, the character was not only given a change in occupation, but also remolded to better fit her own individual personality. Everett's character was fleshed out as well, and given a number of Rupertesque flourishes, such as when he spurns Madonna's character's interest and declares, "You are the woman I'd most like to...be." However, given that the two actors are basically playing themselves, the movie has a kind of lightness...
...Next Best Thing is a good and amusing but far from great movie. Although the movie plods a little bit in the courtroom scenes, the interactions between Madonna and Everett are entertaining. Especially in the drunken dance sequence, when Robert and Abbie frolic about the house of one of Robert's employers in the graceful style of Astaire and Rogers, one cannot help but get a sense of voyeurism. Because their on screen and off screen personas are so similar, it is often difficult to see when the movie begins, and where reality settles in the picture...