The Best and the Brightest (2010)

Great Film overall

Don't listen to the negative reviews

As Good As It Gets

A Masterpiece!

Sometimes it is enough to be clever rather than actually be talented in something. Sometimes you just do anything to get what you want. And that is what this couple is all about. The actors make this more fun than it actually has a right to be. Too many clichés, choices to interrupt conversations that do not make any sense (other than "being funny" and interruptive) and other stuff like that.The characters are simple and the setting is too. You'll see where this is going from very early on. Some nice jokes aside this might bore some people, if they are not convinced by the actors as well. Decent try, but needed work on script level.

Saw an advanced screening of this movie with a Q&A afterward with Co-Writer/Director Josh Shelov. I was on-set during one of the scenes and I thought this would be an independent PG-13 comedy. Instead, it's a very heartfelt, R-rated comedy with excellent actors. First the movie, it was hilarious! People in the audience were laughing hysterically, so I wasn't alone. To me, there is four parts of this movie. Part 1, 2, and 4 are hysterical, and part 3 was pretty good, but not great. The writing by Josh Shelov and Michael Jaeger is witty, old-school, and just plain funny. It's been a while since I've seen a comedy that isn't sarcasm and too raunchy. This film is raunchy, yes, but in a good way. It's a farce, and a very good one. The story is very right-on and the situations are original and just hilarious. The acting ensemble, including Peter Serafinowicz (voice of Darth Maul/Pete in Shaun of the Dead), Jenna Stern, and Amy Sedaris, are great. Neil Patrick Harris isn't great but it's cool to see him play someone other than a womanizer like Barney. Bonnie Somerville carried the leading role more than Harris. She carried the film with her unique acting skills. Another scene stealer was Christopher McDonald (remember? Shooter MaGavin in Happy Gilmore). He is a very funny guy and he needs to stick with comedy and not those TNT shows. Overall, funny movie. If I say anymore about the story, I'll spoil it. I'm saying, anyone would be up for a real surprise. After the film, Josh Shelov spoke to everyone in the audience. I asked him a few questions. He is witty and original guy, and if you ever see an advanced screening with a Q and A with him, ask him about his big break. It's a very fascinating and appalling story. See this movie...

I had the opportunity to see Best and the Brightest at a showing in Brooklyn recently. This movie is a comedy that documents the struggles of a young couple trying to get their kid into a NYC private school kindergarten. They go to ridiculous lengths to make this happen, and hilarity ensues.I don't normally go to independent movies, but I thought to myself that this is a movie that I would like to see if it were a major studio release. I felt that the premise had potential.Then I found out that Neil Patrick Harris was one of the leads in this movie. NPH is arguably the most talented actor in my age bracket. I guess I don't really need to toot his horn. If you're reading this, you're likely a fan.For an independent film, there sure were a lot of actors I knew. The main lead in this movie was Bonnie Somerville, who I remember from an arc in The OC. There was Kelly Coffield Park, who I used to watch on In Living Color. Another In Living Color vet, Steve Park (Kelly's husband), had a big role. Kate Mulgrew, of Star Trek Voyager fame, was also in there. The movie also had two very talented supporting actors in Amy Sedaris and Christopher McDonald. I've seen both their work in the past, but for me, McDonald's resume looks like a list of movies I've seen. He was in Grease 2, Breakin', and I'm probably the only person on the planet that would complement his work in Chattanooga Choo Choo. And finally, I'll mention Jenna Stern, who I haven't seen much of, but was very good in this movie as the comedic foil.The movie itself was very good.From the opening shot I knew this wasn't some amateur production. It had good cutaways, real music, and of course, a great cast. But most important, the audience I was with laughed.That's the key. People laughed. I've seen so many movies where the jokes bomb. Comedians bomb more often than they are funny. But here, people laughed.This was not some sort of family comedy. It was rated R. No question. F bombs were flying like Libya was the target. We had boobs. Two of them! And they were good! I expected the movie to center around Neil Patrick Harris, though I would say that Somerville, who played NPH's wife Samantha, was the true star of the film. Best and the Brightest was not exactly what I expected. I went into the movie expecting PG-13 humor, with some sort of funny competition between families involving getting into preschool. The movie was really nothing like that. It was an R rated comedy with the kindergarten theme, with some dirty humor that just worked.This is my first review on the IMDb, and I see the ban on spoilers. I don't THINK I'm revealing a spoiler here, but just to be safe, here's your SPOILER warning:The movie shows the difficulty one has to get their kid educated in a private school. While the movie was an exaggeration, apparently, it isn't THAT much of an exaggeration. These people hit a brick wall, and even hired a coach named Sue (Sedaris) to get this kid into school. Sedaris basically decided that these people were too hum drum to stand out, and looked for a hook, and wasn't above stretching the truth. Upon hearing that NPH's character Jeff wrote a single poem in high school, Sue decided that Jeff would market himself as a soon to be published poet. The idea was they could fake it through the interview with the headmistress(Stern), and all would be OK. I don't want to spoil this movie too much, but let's just say something made its way into the application by mistake, and the humor that came as a result made this movie. One theme of this movie is what happens when a good intended lie spirals out of control. Well, in this movie, funny things happen.This movie is better than a lot of things you see from the big studios today. The acting was top notch. Christopher McDonald has to be considered one of the more underrated actors out there. Everything he does, he does well. I don't need to compliment NPH. We all know he's the man. Sedaris was energetic and funny. Somerville of course was the star. The Parks' roles were written especially FOR them, and they were funny as well. The movie's biggest issues will be marketing. Yes, it's a funny movie. Yes, it's a good movie. But how do you market an R rated comedy with a PG 13 topic? The people that would laugh at this movie, and the people that would likely go out and see it, may not be the same people. At the post-movie Q&A, Director/co-writer Josh Shelov even said studios weren't sure how to market it. That said, I hope this movie showcases Josh well enough to get him to the next level. If Michael Bay can make movies, if Brannon Braga can still get work writing and producing, if Will Ferrell is still allowed to act, then maybe it's time Hollywood raises its standards and lets some more talented people like the crew behind Best and the Brightest at it.The bottom line is this--this movie has the most important element of a comedy. It's funny.

When I saw the cover for this movie I was a bit excited as I saw Neil Patrick Harris was on the cast. So it was with some anticipation that I sat down to watch this movie.And now that I have seen it, I sit with an overwhelming sensation that just screams "was this movie really necessary?" The storyline told in "The Best and the Brightest" is fairly easy, almost too simple actually. A family moves to New York and have to find a kindergarten for their daughter. Then in order to get into this fancy kindergarten, events start to unfold and roll downhill, escalating into something bigger and bigger. The deeper the parents go in, the harder it gets to come clean.The cast list, does hold some rather good names, and some performances were actually alright. However, I was really, really disappointed with Neil Patrick Harris's (playing Jeff) performance in the movie, it was so tame compared to how he was in previous movies and TV series. Peter Serafinowicz (playing Clark) and Jenna Stern (playing Katharine Heilmann) were the ones carrying the weight of the movie and making it bearable to sit through. And the role and performance of Christopher McDonald (playing The Player) was a really good injection of comedy for the movie. He is just superb.Now, as for a comedy, there were surprisingly few places throughout the movie that had me laughing. Sure there were lots of scenes that could have been made to force laughter, but failed to do so. So I wouldn't go out and watch this with the intention to be entertained for the sake of laughs."The Best and the Brightest" is, sadly, one of those movies that comes by, dies off silently in the night, and is quietly forgotten.