Best Man Down (2012) Directed by Ted Koland

At first, I was kind of skeptical. I mean, a dramedy about the best man dropping dead after a wedding sounded kind of lame and far from fun to me. However, as it turned out, this movie is a very charming and effective one, on multiple different levels.

It's funny, it's heartfelt, it's cute has some good characters in it. In other words, it's a perfectly fine little dramedy from director and writer Ted Koland, who actually made his directorial debut with this movie. It manages to find an effective balance between all of its comedy and its more serious drama, all throughout the movie. It never gets too silly with anything but it also certainly never gets too serious. And I think that latter is the biggest reason why this movie works out so well. It isn't ever forcing any of its drama and it deliberately keeps things 'small', which lets everything work out as something both realistic and effective.

This movie definitely features a good story and main premise in it. Thing that I liked about it is that it centers around a man, who already ends up dead within the first few minutes of the movie. After his sudden death, the characters begin to learn more and more about his recent life and even after his death, his actions still have an effect on people and helps to change persons lives. All sounds terribly dry and heavy but trust me, this movie is anything but dry and heavy to watch. Despite some very serious themes, this movie overall is a very enjoyable and pleasant one to watch. Sure, it still may move you but it's not a movie that will leave you feeling depressed.

The movie has some pretty decent acting in it as well, though I still thought that Justin Long felt slightly miscast in this. Nothing against him but I guess I just see him too much as a 'goofy' comical actor and had a hard time taking him serious in a more serious type of role, even though I of course in the past had already seen him play plenty of more serious roles before. I don't know, he just felt out of place to me but luckily it's not a movie that's just about his character. It's not a movie that gets carried by just one actor or character but it's a true ensemble piece in which all of the characters and actors shine equally and are equally as important to the story and its progress.

Cute, charming, heartfelt and effective really are the words to best describe this movie with, in my opinion. I have seen lots of similar genre attempts but it's rare that these movies work out as well for me as this one did.

7/10

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