Best F(r)iends - Movie Review

“Today my friend, I will teach you a lesson about loyalty…”

7.5/10

The kwirky duo of unintentional cinematic comedy have returned. (No not Cool Cat and Daddy Derek) but the acclaimed legendary eccentric ‘genius’ filmmaker, Tommy Wiseau and the adorable Greg Sestero aka ‘Oh Hi, Mark,’ have returned in their next film Best F(r)iends directed by Justin McGregor and written by Sestero himself and I was lucky enough to see it at the Prince Charles Cinema with my friend, whom is also a fan of Tommy, plus a Q and A with the actors and the director and cinematographer.

My expectations when seeing this film was that it was going to be good and not the ‘so bad it’s good’ no, I mean generally good. Why you ask? Because I saw the trailer and to me I caught the impression that these people were actually trying plus the shots looked absolutely beautiful compared to The Room, yet I have to say the filmmaking qualities in The Room were somewhat decent.

Now let me just start off by saying that overall film actually works and I am absolutely IMPRESSED. It really does work. You would expect Wiseau to ruin a film where they actually try to take things seriously however on the contrary, he is one of the unique elements which make this film retain its competence. Tommy Wiseau was well known for his poorly yet hilariously delivered lines in The Room playing as the character, Johnny, a successful business man and finance (or ‘future husband’ as he likes to call it) who is supposed to be seen as a normal character respected by his peers. This did not work because the characters look like they had to pretend he is normal which instead makes it come across as awkward, off putting and hilariously uncomfortable. However In Best F(r)iends Wiseau plays a character which is completely suited to his kwirkyness and eccentric personality! In this film you will see the actors actually weirded out and uncomfortable to be around him especially Sestero. His grand character introduction is simply unforgettable and it is not something any other actor can pull without looking cringe worthy.

Wiseau plays the peculiar mortician, Harvey Lewis, who takes pride in his work involving giving dead bodies who have disfigured faces new ones. He comes across a young drifter by the name of Jon, played by Greg Sestero, whom he hires, until they both discover they can sell their storage of gold teeth to illegal Gold sellers for profit… and a friendship ensues. Wiseau is at his best and is thoroughly entertaining in this film as his acting has somewhat improved, you can see him having more fun with his character than he did with Johnny. Throughout the movie, whenever Wiseau utters a single sentence, you are guaranteed to be howling but at least you know that you are laughing at him for the right reasons and not the wrong.

Sestero wrote the screenplay, which contains a story that is coherent and enticing as he respects his characters and his good friend Tommy as he puts his abilities and contributions to good use. Sestero himself pulls off a solid performance as the protagonist, Jon, whom you somewhat care for. This film mostly shows you what his backstory instead of telling you so you can notice a good relationship between the directing and writing. Through montages of the poor drifter’s life, from when he was young to him hopelessly wandering through the streets of Los Angeles whilst listening to the equally hilarious and somewhat sorrowful score of Dan Platzman from Imagine Dragons applied to the montages.

However of course there downsides to this film as well. According to cinematography, this film contains a uncertain balance between beautifully shot exterior scenes, and nightlight and sunrise crane shots to interior shots focusing on dialogue which are unnecessary or hard to make out. Plus it contained inconsistency with lighting, white balance which was distracting for us in some parts. My friend I, who are film students criticised mostly on the technical aspects however it’s not enough to draw you away from the story itself plus we both acknowledged how beautiful the exterior shots. When they get it right they get absolutely right, but when they get it wrong… it’s tough to say it can be noticeable to the eyes of normal filmgoers. I would have to say this film has the resemblance of what a student film would look like but at least this film has a ton of effort put into it.

I heard that Gary Fong, who was the director, left the project in the middle of production so Justin McGregor the cinematographer had to take the wheel. Now if I had known this before I would have thought this film’s tone in structure would be all over the place, luckily this was not the case! In terms of technicalities, maybe since Macgregor had to edit the film as well. This film contains its tone and successfully balances out laughs and psychological thrill, it is seriously enough to weird you out.

If you’re going to expect The Room references for it’s target audience, there’s only about a few which is what I adored. It will not bombard you with countless quotes playing on your sense of humour and intelligence but when they come, you will be aching so hard with laughter, you won’t be able to throw your spoons at the screen. I’m not going to say what they are because that will probably lessen your experience with the film.

Overall this film is a fun and enjoyable treat for both The Room fans and lovers for cinema. Is it perfect? Of course not! It does have it’s noticeable faults which can be distracting but the characters are likeable, the score is simply phenomenal and the storytelling will lead you to laughing with tears but at the same time keep you on the edge of your seat with suspense wondering where their Best F(r)iendship is going to lead.