The Next Best Thing

This movie is really a sleeper. I can see why people who watch it expecting a campy fiasco like Madonna made with Sean Penn would be disappointed or even p.o.'d. I avoided it for 9 years just on principle. In fact, during the first few minutes when I accidentally caught it on TV, I kept thinking, "Who is this actress who looks so much like Madonna but who can ACT????" This is really REALLY not a romantic comedy, no matter how light and funny it is initially. It is a more serious than usual role for both Madonna and Rupert Everett, and they both did very well. It is touching and funny, and might have suffered 9 years ago because the viewing public was not ready for the very realistic portrayal of these complicated questions about who is really "family" and why.