My Best Friend's Daughter - DVD

Movie: It's total idyll: the Ostorff and Walling families are not only neighbors in West Orange, a quaint New Jersey suburb. They're also best friends. David Walling (Hugh Laurie) and Terry Ostroff (Oliver Platt) go jogging together every morning and enjoy spending time together in other ways as well. And with nice regularity, the families get together for dinner. When Nina (Leighton Meester), the daughter of Terry and Cathy (Allison Jenney), who has been betrayed by her fiancé, returns to her family for Thanksgiving after a five-year absence, the neighborhood happiness seems perfect. That's because Toby (Adam Brody), David and Paige's (Catherine Keener) son, has also arrived for the holiday - and the two would make such a handsome couple. Too bad it's not between Nina and Toby, but between Nina and David that sparks fly mightily - so mightily that a liaison begins between the two that could destroy not only a marriage, but a deep friendship forever...

My Best Friend's Daughter deals with a subject that in itself would have had the makings of a solid drama. But British director Julian Farino, making his U.S. feature debut here, skillfully manages to wrestle its comedic aspects from the story as well. With plenty of wit, some drama and romance, Farino establishes a highly entertaining balance that actually only has one real weakness: the film is just far too well-behaved. While the script has genuinely funny and also very nice ideas to offer time and again, they lack the overall bite to lift the story above leisurely TV entertainment.

The fine cast do their best to play against this shortcoming. Hugh Laurie acts very subdued compared to his Doctor House here, but alongside Oliver Platt, the very charming Gossip Girl Leighton Meester, and a wonderful Allison Janney, Laurie's performance fits in perfectly. This ensemble is fun to watch, even if there is always the feeling that the script doesn't really do their performances justice.

However, there are two aspects of the production that can be a bit surprising. One is the fact that the relationship between the young Nina and the much older David never seems inappropriate, raunchy or implausible. You take it from the two of them that they are genuinely in love with each other and even though it comes at the expense of David's marriage and thus can't really be considered morally positive, you still somehow hope that there is a future for the couple.

The second aspect is the ending. Towards the end the story heads for a decision of Nina's, which surely many other screenwriters would have chosen and which also seems to become reality here for a long time. However, Farino and his co-writer Ian Helfer deserve credit for the fact that things turn out quite differently. It's true that The Daughter of My Best Friend is neither an absolutely realistic marriage drama nor a really biting suburban satire, but just something half-baked in between. But since this can still entertain well due to the good actors, some very amusing scenes and the satisfying ending, friends of American family comedies, which sometimes strike somewhat softer tones, then again culminate in comedic chaos, should not regret buying this DVD. Worth seeing!

Picture + Sound: Like the film itself, the picture and sound quality on the DVD are good average. The picture is very clean and the overall sharpness is at a good level. Here and there, however, there are minor weaknesses in detail and slight image noise in darker scenes. The colouring, on the other hand, is convincing across the board. The sound, as is the norm in this genre, is primarily dominated by the dialogue and music. Real surround moments are of course scarce. Overall, there is still a for it: Good!

Extras: There is not much offered here. Besides two short promo featurettes about the making of the film (approx. 6 + 3 min.) there are two quite entertaining interviews with Leighton Meester (approx. 5 min.), as well as with Hugh Laurie and Catherine Keener (approx. 6 min.). And also the trailer may not be missing of course.

Conclusion: The daughter of my best friend is a nice and especially well-acted mixture of comedy and drama, but lacks the necessary bite to leave a lasting impression. For entertaining in between it's enough. Technically the DVD is well made, the bonus material is nice, but also a bit superficial. If you like American family comedy with a little pinch of drama, you can safely risk a look here despite some weaknesses. Recommendable

An article by Frankfurt-Tipp