Abbie Reynolds (Madonna) and Robert Whittaker (Rupert Everett) fall into an amorous embrace on a fateful 4th of July after a few too many martinis. Robert is a landscaper and gay, which complicates things. Abbie is a yoga instructor who confesses a few weeks later that she is pregnant. Six years later, Robert, Abbie, and their son Sam (Malcolm Stumpf) are living together peacefully and happily--that is, until hunky investment banker Ben Cooper (Benjamin Bratt) starts making eyes at Abbie, throwing their alternative family into disarray. The relationship of a gay man, straight woman, and child falls apart when Abbie falls in love with Ben and wants to move away with him and Robert's little boy, Sam. A nasty, full-of-surprises custody battle ensues between Abbie and Robert.
This comedy-drama was a critical and commercial flop. Madonna won a Razzie award for worst actress, and the film was nominated for other Razzies including Worst Director, Worst Picture and Worst Screenplay. Critic Roger Ebert gave the movie 1 star, stating: "The Next Best Thing is a garage sale of gay issues, harnessed to a plot as exhausted as a junkman's horse." The inept screenplay has cardboard dialogue that sounds like first-draft material--including wailing by Madonna about how she can't find a man, and a gym-buffed Everett complaining about gay male body image.
The movie stumbles from domestic comedy to custody-suit tragedy when it takes a bizarre left turn in the third act. Any statements about new definitions of family are buried underneath these events, which provide teary courtroom outbursts for both leads. Everett has a quick way with a one-liner, and Madonna is more relaxed than she's ever been in a film, but they are just in front of the camera with no help from the supporting cast. Music from the movie is a soundtrack including two songs by singer Madonna, "American Pie" and "Time Stood Still". Tom Ropelewski wrote the screenplay and John Schlesinger directed.
