X
- 2005
- R
- THINKFilm
- 1 h 26 m
- 2005
- R
- THINKFilm
- 1 h 26 m
Summary A failed publishing executive (Pantoliano) and his best friend from childhood, a successful movie producer (Gaines), compete for the attentions of the same woman (Tilly).
Directed By: Eric Weber
Written By: Eric Weber
- 2005
- R
- THINKFilm
- 1 h 26 m
- 2005
- R
- THINKFilm
- 1 h 26 m
Second Best
44
User Score
Available after 4 ratings
tbd
Summary A failed publishing executive (Pantoliano) and his best friend from childhood, a successful movie producer (Gaines), compete for the attentions of the same woman (Tilly).
Directed By: Eric Weber
Written By: Eric Weber
Top Cast
Metascore
Mixed or Average
Based on 11 Critic Reviews
44
9% Positive
1 Review
1 Review
73% Mixed
8 Reviews
8 Reviews
18% Negative
2 Reviews
2 Reviews
Metascore
Mixed or Average
Based on 11 Critic Reviews
44
9% Positive
1 Review
1 Review
73% Mixed
8 Reviews
8 Reviews
18% Negative
2 Reviews
2 Reviews
Sloppy but smart-enough-to-make-you-squirm comedy.
While Second Best is mildly engaging thanks largely to an appealingly self-effacing turn from Joe Pantoliano, writer-director Eric Weber's script could have used an extra polish or two.
Two things make this worthwhile: The realistic relationship between Elliot and Richard, and Pantoliano playing against type and actually humanizing a possibly loathsome character.
Second Best might have made a good stage monologue, but as a film it's overstated and barely baked.
It tries too hard for sincerity, when it's actually more sincere when cynical. Filmed in 17 days with hand-held cameras that give it a home-movie feel, the movie takes blue-collar pride in its own hopelessness.
Weber's losers really are losers -- envious, spiteful, complacent, mean-spirited and ultimately boring malcontents pickled in their own poison, and they drag his film down with them.
An ugly, amateurish film that champions mediocrity in a meta-attempt to justify its own ineptitude.
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