Reviewed by Judy Garrison
My two degrees of separation from Kevin Bacon* really has nothing to do with why I jumped to watch The Best You Can as soon as I spotted it. For many reasons, I’m glad to have caught this diverting romcom, which didn’t require ever putting it on hold as some movies cause me to do. Emotional wimp that I am, a terror-filled or otherwise uncomfortable scene often makes me look away. Like recently in the midst of Wayward episode 1. (I had no interest in watching Kevin Bacon’s other current films on Netflix, a creepy psychological thriller and a revenge movie among them. I have gotten started watching Kyra Sedgwick in Closer, and that series should definitely hold my attention.)
In The Best You Can Bacon plays a neighborhood security guard named Stan Olszewski who foils a home robbery attempt at the home of Cynthia Rand, whose much older husband, Warren, played by Judd Hirsch, is flailing with progressive dementia. Cynthia Rand is played by none other than Bacon’s wife of three decades, Kyra Sedgwick.
When Cynthia and Stan develop (as we knew they would) a charged friendship fueled by late-night humorous texts that clearly revitalize Cynthia, I can’t help but feel a tinge of concern that she is short-changing the attention she should be showering on her beloved, but failing, husband. Soon Cynthia and Stan are on the phone sharing memories of favorite childhood TV shows and confessions of inadequacy. Cynthia assures underachiever Stan of his intelligence. This is clearly becoming an emotional affair. Perhaps I withhold judgment, though, since I understand why she is drawn to Stan, played so winningly by the charming Bacon. Also, she is under stress due to her husband’s decline, and she has hired a very capable and attentive companion/caretaker for him while she is at work, a woman who may also be helping with his memoirs covering his role as assistant chief counsel to the prosecution team that brought down Nixon during the Watergate scandals. Mostly I was able to give her a pass, as illogical as that may seem, because, after all, Bacon and Sedgwick are married in real life. They belong together!
Other characters (sub-plots are required in a romcom) are all well-played. They include Warren’s daughter who is intent on getting him into a memory care facility, Stan’s daughter, whom he briefly abandoned when she was growing up, and whom he now awkwardly attempts to support in her dreams of a career as a singer, and an outspoken 20-something cashier with whom Bacon is having a casual fling.
A Roger Ebert reviewer carps about the muddled aims of the film’s “limp script.” She seems to want forceful and insightful statements about fidelity and how couples should handle an oversized generation gap such as theirs. I could care less about moral messages from on high. It’s a romantic comedy, folks! I simply basked happily while watching Sedgwick and Bacon together. You will, too!
*A family friend and frequent weekend guest, Peter (Milan) Sova, was cinematographer for Barry Levinson’s film Diner (1982) which starred many young actors who later gained fame: Kevin Bacon, Mickey Rourke, Steve Guttenberg, Paul Reiser, Tim Daly, Daniel Stern and Ellen Barkin. Peter shared an early cut with us, and regaled us with anecdotes about the actors.~
