The Next Best Thing (2000)

What makes The Next Best Thing worth your time is its surprisingly tender belief that a family can be built on friendship first, and that love doesn’t always arrive in tidy, traditional shapes. John Schlesinger keeps the tone glossy and accessible—part romantic comedy, part grown-up melodrama—while Madonna and Rupert Everett click with an ease that sells the central bond even when the story turns thornier. The movie’s best moments are the small ones: two people trying to do right by each other, navigating modern intimacy with humor, bruised pride, and real affection. It won’t be for everyone if you’re allergic to early-2000s studio sheen or courtroom drama, but if you’re on the fence, come for the chemistry and stay for the unexpectedly heartfelt look at what we owe the people we call family.

The Next Best Thing is clearly aiming for a progressive, heartfelt look at unconventional family, friendship, and what makes someone a “real” parent, and the premise has genuine emotional potential. The problem is it can’t decide what it wants to be: breezy comedy one minute, soapy melodrama the next, then suddenly a heavy courtroom fight, and the tonal whiplash makes it hard to stay invested. The script asks you to accept some pretty shaky character choices and legal/dramatic turns, and if you’re sensitive to LGBTQ+ themes being handled with clumsy, late-’90s mainstream framing, parts may feel more frustrating than moving. Still, Rupert Everett brings some warmth and bite, and if you’re in the mood for a glossy, messy star-vehicle drama rather than a believable relationship story, you might get something out of it.