Best F(r)iends: Volume 2

Recaptures the magic of The Room and the unique chemistry between Wiseau and Sestero

I will start off my review with a bit of implicit bias. Most of this movie was shot in my hometown and I also got to meet Greg Sestero during the filming of this movie. So yes, I definitely enjoyed this part of the movie than the first part. Either way, onto the rest of the review.

Now according to Sestero, he was looking to make Best F(r)iends as a devotional to David Lynch, more specifically than 1990s Lynch who was weird for the sake of being weird. The formula and ambitions didn't seem right for the first part, so the weirdness was scaled back. As for the second part....they went all in. It's only perfect they did this in a weird part of the world that is the cities of Tucson and Benson, Arizona.

Anyway, we pick up where the first movie ended and Jon and Traci are on the run. Traci decides to call her Uncle Rick (played by Rick Edwards) to help them crack the safe/ATM they have with Harvey's money in it. The movie just starts going off on bizarre tangents, namely with Rick Edwards just owning every scene he is in. I loved this character, mainly because I have met people like him who routinely go to gun shows, eat nothing but steak and claim his friends The Oathkeepers are not a fascists but patriots. Trust me, there are a lot of Uncle Rick's in Arizona.

Anyway, double crosses and murders happen aplenty, and we even find out Harvey is still alive (please, was this really a spoiler). While part 2 needed more Tommy Wiseau, the parts we get him in are just fine. The ending also proves the true meaning of the movie's title, in case you were wondering.

Now this "movie" in general was an interesting step for all of those involved. While Sestero and Wiseau will always be associated with The Room, they have tried to do more legitimate projects that tap into the badness of said film while also showing they will not let it define them. I don't think they will ever get rich off their current life trajectories, but they will at least embrace and enhance the names they made for themselves. For fans of The Room, I definitely recommend these two movies.

Best F(r)iends: Volume 2 is quite different from the first volume and might actually surprise you a lot. The first film focuses on the difficult friendship between introverted drifter Jon Kortina and eccentric mortician Harvey Lewis who develop a scheme of selling gold fillings from the deceased's teeth to shady underground businessmen. This second movie tells us how the quiet drifter and his manipulative girlfriend leave the mortician for dead and try to run off with the money the scheme has made to start a new life in Colorado.

This second volume has a much steadier pace than the first volume. This is due to the set of unusual characters the couple encounters on its strange road trip. The diversified locations also add some diversified entertainment. The final thirty minutes of the movie are very intense, come around with a series of intriguing plot twists and feature numerous deadly confrontations in breathtaking landscapes.

Despite the differences between the two volumes, the weird tone, unexpected events and strange characters keep them together in a quiet coherent way. The ever-changing second volume itself is kept together by numerous surreal dream sequences that connect both volumes and give more background information about the two lead characters. It's certainly impossible to watch only one of the two volumes or to watch them separately over a longer period of time.

This unique second volume is so intriguingly strange that it could be watched on several occasions in order to uncover more unsettling details and understand all its facets since some questions remain unanswered which gives the viewers some food for thought. This film has the potential to become a genuine cult movie while the first volume is rather an appropriate introduction to the madness that unfolds here. I would recommend the two volumes to fans of television shows with uniquely strange characters such as Fargo and Twin Peaks and obviously to anyone who has watched The Room even though these two volumes are much more clever, coherent and serious than you might expect. Grab a beer, invite a few friends and enjoy these two volumes to the fullest.

It's unbelievable how much flaws this movie has, from acting to script to editing, but how amazingly it all works together to create such an enjoyable experience. It's not unintentionally bad-turned-amazing. This was an intentionally crafted weird, disjointed, bizzare film, which could please both "The Room" fans and "uninitiated" viewers if they can suspend all their expectations as to what a movie is and delve into the characters, surprisingly complicated plot and overall psychidelic tone and atmosphere of this movie.

P.S. If you're gonna shoot - shoot, don't talk.

At the very least, these two films do a nice job of using Wiseau's weird quirks and personality to its full potential. Admittedly, this volume wasn't as appealing, as Wiseau is more of a background plot device until the third act, and we have to deal with Jon and Traci's quest to open to the safe through a bunch of uninteresting characters. There's more slow motion, wal-mart versions of Bruce Dern and Bruce Willis, and an ending that actually pays off the rest of the story. And I think much like The Room, there's plenty in both of these movies that are worth a YouTube re-watch at some point down the line.

5.1/10