Best Day Ever

Best Day Ever doesn't start in the best of moods. David (Mel England) is arriving at 50 years old, and doesn't seem to have too many reasons to be content. He lives in the house of his boyfriend, someone that simply can't say that he's in love with him. His life is a mess. Being an independent film maker, he hasn't 'break through'. Although doing something he loves to do, everybody seems to advise him to leave the activity, starting something new. At fifty, he doesn't seem too much encouraged to doing so, and making films, despite the difficulties, is what he likes to do, alas! Then things start to grow better, as soon as he decides to make some changes in his life. He has some supportive friends, one of them much older than himself, who encourages him. And so thins go on, until he realizes that's he may be living his best days ever. Watch the film, I fell you won't get disappointed; at least if you're getting to some middle age crisis, as I do (I'm 57). The film leaves you with the impression that it's never too late to pursue your dreams, once you find the right persons to be with. It is somewhat different of the torrent of films we see about people in their twenties of thirties, who seem to have so much ahead of them, but it's a relieve.

One of those movies where people talk, they don't DO.

At one point a character says it's the happiest day of his life. We only know this because he says it. We certainly don't see him being happy.

There are five characters, sitting in various rooms, talking to each other about LIFE problems. At one point a couple is sitting on a porch. That's as far outside this movie ever goes. Consequently this is a movie about people talking about living, not a movie about the characters actual lives.

This kind of construction only works if the plot is terrific and the dialog is ultra sharp and witty, rife with multiple meanings. The dialog in this movie is exactly the opposite. Flat, boring, uninteresting. You would think a writer who creates a an indy filmmaker character might be able to show us something interesting about filmmaking. Nope. Nada. Nichts. Nothing.

I don't know what kind of life experience a reviewer would need to think this is a 10-star movie. Maybe a small child, or someone living in an iron lung?

Absolute complete waste of time.

I think we're supposed to feel sympathy for the main character, David, who is turning 50, is questioning his long-term partnership and who is having issues with his career. His partner, Greg, it is implied, is cold and manipulative and not all that loving.

In fact, the way it came across was that David was a self-absorbed, whiny drama queen whose partner was a very level-headed, sympathetic & loving person who withstood David's self-centered tantrums with amazing grace … and who, it might be added, had to be better off in every way to be free of David. That they apparently had had a long relationship and that it was only just beginning to unravel was really hard to believe. Greg and David then break up. Greg leaves. Lucky Greg.

Then, after further interminable kvetching and more egocentric, whiny soul- searching, David is paired up with his friend's cousin. Shane is a shy thirty-something young man from Indiana who is strangely (and I do mean "strangely") attracted to David. One has to believe that Shane must have led a pretty lonely, sheltered life up to this point and/or he's a masochist with daddy issues. They decide to head off into the sunset, or back to Shane's home in Indiana in this case, having finally found true love … by which time the viewer's credulity has been stretched to the breaking point.

The subject of unique issues that gay men face while coping with a mid-life crisis could certainly be fertile ground for comedy or drama, but this production failed to deliver. It was really impossible to feel any sympathy for David or to see any believable connection between him and Shane.

This has all the earmarks of a home video, except there's a corny/trite soundtrack that doesn't belong in this small gay pastiche telling of one typical day in gay-relationship-dom. Blessedly, it's not over-acted, nor over-scripted...but it's also underwritten to a certain degree so we're left wondering about some of the setup...and this rolls along in stereotypical fashion, but w/o typical gay drama....so it's refreshing in that way. I can see many folks getting uncomfortable watching the plot unfold but, hey: Everyone knows what's going to happen and, guess what: It Does.

This movie is a sappy romance, heartfelt, whiny, sweet and real. We all wonder about our lives and we all have a insecurity about something.

It is a VERY talky movie. It will feel like very revealing conversations with friends. If you like character films, you will enjoy this.