Second Best (1994)

Wow! Such a good movie.

Thanks for the memories!

Must See Movie...

Actress is magnificent and exudes a hypnotic screen presence in this affecting drama.

William Hurt is one of my favourite actors. Steady, brooding, sensitive. Unfortunately, the mix of loneliness, poignancy and longing for love is obscured by oft ill-judged caricatured characters and situations.I've read through the other reviews as well as seen the movie twice, now. There is no doubt that men such as Graham Holt do exist, sitting in the wings of society. Far more commonly, their (early, in his case) midlife crises emerge as they find life is slipping by and one that will have true meaning - and legacy. "I want you to look after me when I'm old", he blubs to the boy, James as they fight and argue.Whilst the media has us all believe that only inner city kids with hoodies and a drug dependence are the only ones who have grave emotional issues. So far, we're OK. The intention is good and the intense interactions work well as well as the temper tantrums performed by both man and boy.I noticed that many reviewers who wrote glowing comments may be a little overwhelmed by our English "quaintness". Or supposed quaintness. I really don't want to sound patronising. We certainly hold onto unrepresentative views of the U.S. Thus, this film's sedate pace may have an added attraction for them. That, though isn't my issue - it's the likes of Jane Horrock's vulgar and totally unsuitable character, social worker Debbie and the overplaying of Keith Allen's part as the boy's father. I've had issue with social services myself and I can only think that the writer David Cook and director Chris Menges felt that the film needed 'spicing up'. A sardonic character often works and occasionally makes a film, but only if it works.I really don't wish to insult his film further - but that old chestnut that the critics usually end up with springs to mind - would make a great TV movie. A pretty good, one though.

Excellent film. Both the boy (Yapp) and Hurt were great. Seemed real life like. Hurt the lonely man, and the boy as one needing love. It highlighted the struggles both and to go through before they could finally come together as father and son. Also the musical track is great.

The story is about a kind man in his forties that never dated, drank or did drugs. He ended up in a kind of boring everyday life in a 5000 population town and felt something was missing, perhaps a child would do the trick? This movie is a cute story about a man who adopts a small boy with certain behavioral problems.

David Cook, author of the novel of the same title and also involved in the film, is known for his sensitive and probing treatments of characters marginalized in society. After seeing the film, I made a point of searching for the book, and at long last spotted a "galley proof edition" in a used bookstore in Oxford. The picture is faithful to the novel-- if anything, excessively so. Much dialogue is reproduced intact. A number of small incidents and gestures which seem inconsequential or puzzling in the movie were revealed as symbols or evocations of episodes which the book had fleshed out. Directors themselves so immersed in every detail are at risk of assuming too much understanding from the audience, depriving them of just another few words, or a brief camera close-up, which would have put a point across coherently. But these are quibbles, for there is enough depth and quiet eloquence left here to call for a rare ten stars out of ten.This is the story of an unlikely relationship which succeeds as the mutual balm for unusual wounds. The man Graham and the boy Jamie both suffer profoundly from separation from their fathers-- physical separation in Jamie's case (his adored dad is in prison), emotional in Graham's. Each discovers that the other cherishes the memory of just a few days of filial closeness, shattered shards of supreme bliss sparkling in the dismal landscape of their emotional lives. Yet not only does Graham, a candidate to adopt Jamie, lack the primary qualification for a stepfather: a wife. He is a shy nerd with no obvious charisma whatsoever for a hyperactive, street-wise, cynical kid.But traumas in his past have stamped this boy with a vehement misogyny. As little as he fancies anyone presuming to take his father's place, he craves having a stepmother even less. Graham's bachelorhood is a relative advantage. Graham proves himself gradually with humility, honesty, and a quality of unfailing respect for the person struggling underneath Jamie's sullenness which one can only describe as reverence. A "special-ed" teacher of my acquaintance called Jamie (and Chris Cleary Miles' passionate characterization) very realistic, and pronounced Graham (as brought to life masterfully by William Hurt) "a genius" in his approach to the developing relationship.While some will complain that this film drags, others will value its quiet atmosphere in which heart-codes are patiently decrypted. The more important the dialogue is, the likelier it is to approach whispers. One crucial central scene, barely audible, as the haunting strains of the score's "rift" theme echo away more faintly still, never to be heard again, must be one of the tenderest moments ever captured on celluloid.Perhaps Graham has been plagued by a touch of agoraphobia. The cinematography deftly suggests this world view: interiors of small rooms, fussy wallpaper, obtrusive props, brilliant curtains covering the windows; exteriors somehow painting scenes of ravishing beauty with brushstrokes of vague terror.Graham Holt is an unlikely hero, but a true one. If more people treated one another the way he does, the world would be a better place.