Best Men (1997)

Four best men pick up their friend, the groom, outside prison. On the way to the chapel, they stop at a bank and get involved in a robbery. The bank's surrounded. FBI takes over.

Director:

Tamra Davis

Writers:

Art Edler Brown, Tracy Fraim

Stars:

Dean Cain, Andy Dick, Sean Patrick Flanery

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Dean Cain	...	Buzz
Andy Dick	...	Teddy
Sean Patrick Flanery	...	Billy
Mitchell Whitfield	...	Sol
Luke Wilson	...	Jesse
Fred Ward	...	Sheriff Phillips
Raymond J. Barry	...	Hoover
Drew Barrymore	...	Hope
Brad Dourif	...	The Vet
Tracy Fraim	...	Cuervo
Art Edler Brown	...	Carter
Jeff Phillips	...	The Rookie
Biff Yeager	...	Mayor Boar (as Biff Yaeger)
Kathryn Joosten	...	Edie
Dee Maaske	...	Dorothy

Storyline

The film opens with four tuxedo clad men showing up at a penitentiary to meet a friend who has just been released after three years in prison and is going straight from the jail to marry his girlfriend. En route to the wedding, one of the men asks to stop by a bank to pick up some cash. As it turns out, he is a wanted bank robber who uses Shakespeare passages during his robberies and thus has become known as "Hamlet". Soon all five men are caught up in the bank and involved in the robbery as they end up in a hostage situation. The hostage negotiator shows up who turns out to be Hamlet's father. As the men are all known to those being robbed, this quirky comedy takes a left turn as their hostages all work to support the men.

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Plot Keywords:

reference to william shakespeare | title directed by female | best man | reference to shakespeare's hamlet | chase | 

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Taglines:

Never rob a bank on your wedding day

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Genres:

Action | Comedy | Crime | Drama | Thriller

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated R for strong violence and language

Details

Country:

USA UK

Language:

English

Release Date:

17 October 1997 (USA)

Also Known As:

Independence

Filming Locations:

Front Street, Norwalk, California, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$10,000,000 (estimated)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Motion Picture Corporation of America (MPCA), Orion Pictures, The Rank Organisation

Technical Specs

Runtime:

90 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

The number of the bus they get on at the end is 2525, the same as in Speed (1994).

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Quotes

The Vet: A uniform does not make a soldier. A soldier is someone who is willing to stand up and fight for what he believes in. Be it his God, his country or his friends. And it does not matter if you are black, white, red, yellow, male, female, straight or gay. We all bleed the same.

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Connections

References Monty Python and the Holy Grail (1975)

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Soundtracks

The Conversation
Performed by Tuatara
Written by Barrett Martin, Scott McCaughey and Justin Harwood (as Justin Hardwood)

User Reviews

a hidden pearl in the cheap movie bin

My friend bought this movie out of the $5 bin at Walmart for a laugh. I was just expecting a stupid, mindless romantic comedy. What I found was a brilliant piece of work. The script is quite impressive. The story actually focuses on the "Best Men" like it says, not on the bride and groom. The whole film is chock full of lovable (and not so lovable) vibrant characters from nerdy little Teddy to Billy, the classical romantic hero, to Buzz the top-notch soldier with a heart of gold to Sol the lawyer you don't want to trust. Why had I never heard of this movie before?!? This definitely deserves a place on the shelf for anyone who loves comedy and good writing.