Best Friends

Two friends since childhood named "Jesse" (Richard Hatch) and "Pat" (Doug Chapin) get out of the army and decide to rent a mobile home and tour a part of the country with their girlfriends "Kathy" (Susanne Benton) and "Jo Ella" (Ann Noland). Although Jesse loves Kathy and wants to get married, Pat desperately wants things to remain the same. Soon his fears get the best of him and he tries everything he can think of to cause Jesse and Kathy to break up. Now, rather than reveal what happens next and possibly ruin the film for those who haven't seen it I will just say that for a low-budget drive-in type of movie this wasn't too bad. Yet while there were some parts that were a little slow and I would have preferred a bit more action or passion it still kept my interest for the most part. Having said that, although it certainly isn't a great movie by any means I didn't think it was that bad either. If anything I would rate it as about average.

I can only imagine what the drive-in crowd thought of Best Friends on its original release: it's a downbeat drama that is a far cry from Crown International's usual breezy/cheezy output.

Richard Hatch and Doug Chapin play long-time pals and ex-army buddies Jesse and Pat, who, together with their partners Kathy (Susanne Benton) and Jo Ella (Ann Noland) embark on a cross-country road-trip in a rented Winnebago. Once the trip is over, Jesse intends to marry his girlfriend and get a job, but Pat has different ideas: he wants to continue his care-free friendship with his old buddy and proceeds to try and ruin Jesse's relationship with Kathy. Naturally, things spiral out of control for the foursome, with an unexpectedly tragic ending.

Competently directed, with reasonable performances from its leads, Best Friends isn't a bad movie, but hardly makes for fun viewing. Avid Crown International fans might struggle with the film's rather depressing nature, but will at least appreciate Jo Ella's topless dance at a strip bar and Kathy's shower scene.

I usually like films that focus on a few characters rather then many or even a lot. And "Best Friends" focuses exclusively on 4 characters.

Jessie (Richard Hatch) and Pat (Doug Chapin) have been friends since perhaps childhood. And they've done everything together. In the beginning we get a montage of pictures showing they've been through everything to the prom to the war. And this is how the movie gets it's edge. Jessie came home from Vietnam before Pat did, and it's pretty obvious the war has affected Pat, not Jessie. But, anyways, Jessie and his girlfriend Kathy (Susanne Benton) decide to drive to California to meet Pat when he gets off the airplane. See the thing is they want to take a cross country trip/vacation, and along comes Pat's estranged girlfriend Jo Ella (Ann Noland).

The movie starts off perfectly normal, when everyone see's each other again, it seems like this is going to be a fun road movie. But, soon tension starts to amount. Kathy is clingy to Jessie, and Pat is jealous. Plus, Kathy and Jessie has a much better, loving relationship, then Pat and Jo Ella. Pat is stilted and wants to enjoy life, Jo Ella wants to settle down and be married.

Things get even more heated when Jo Ella makes a fool out of herself by taking her top off at an Indian bar and a fight emerges with the group. Pat wants to protect Jessie (who was hit) but Kathy won't let him. It seems like Pat is becoming more and more obsessed with getting Kathy completely out of the picture and having Jessie to himself.

Then, the film takes a hard left turn. Pat sits Jo Ella down and tells her he has no intention on marrying her. Her life is immediately shattered. He then lies to her and tells her Jessie has been interested in her all this time and she should try to sleep with him. And then another turn comes when Pat sees Kathy alone and tells her Jessie would be a horrible husband and would probably cheat on her.

Jessie and Jo Ella sleep together, Pat tries to rape Kathy, and Jessie beats the holy hell out of Pat. This sets up the last half of the picture where Pat and Jessie try to regain their friendship, through what else, trying to find younger girls to have sex with.

In an ultimate turn of events in the movie (which I won't reveal for you loyal readers out there who will go see this), each one of the four's life are effected by the horrible tragedy that occurs at the end. It's a moment full of empathy, regret, and sadness. Pat ends the picture by saying "We've been together for so long.....we can have it all....." "Best Friends" was mismarketed as a grindhouse/drive-in film in 1974, so the company that released it decided to release it in theaters in early 1975, and I'm sure if it had the proper advertisement and some Academy members actually took the time to see it, it would have got some kind of Academy recognition.

The part of "Best Friends" that keeps coming up is, Ann Noland. She easily gives one of my favorite performances of all time as Jo Ella.

Ann Noland's Jo Ella is multi-layered. She is seemingly happy and carefree, yet she worries about her future nearly every day. She stays "Best Friends" most interesting character. The scene right before her and Jessie have sex where she throws leaves on him and seems playful, then starts crying and says "We're not getting married..." She is heartbreaking! For it's mellow and tense atmosphere, hippie soundtrack, and surprisingly great acting, including Ann Noland's shattering Jo Ella, makes "Best Friends" one of my favorite movies!

"Best Friends" is a real obscurity. It doesn't seem to be listed in any movie reference books. Also, it was never released on VHS, and it was only quietly given a release on DVD (in box sets containing other Crown-International movies) a few years ago. If you know what Crown-International typically released, you will see that their pickup of this movie was a very atypical choice. Although there is some nudity and sex, the movie never feels like exploitation - the events of the movie unfold in a very serious dramatic fashion. I can only wonder what drive-in audiences thought of it. As for what I thought, it is kind of slow-moving, but at the same time I found it strangely compelling; I was really interested in seeing how things would turn out for the four central characters. This movie is definitely not for everyone, but if you like dramatic and unconventional films from the 1970s (and like movies about road trips), you might find enough interest here.

Excellent all the way! Not one bad scene in the whole movie. The only problem is the curse of Richard Hatch. No matter what he does film wise it turns out a loser. He's had the curse all his life, look up his film/TV credits and see what I mean. He ruins it in Best Friends by schlepping his way through most of the films scenes, and being too old for the part. His acting was fine per say but didn't compare to the exceptional performances by Noland and the rest of the cast. The ending was considered bad by most viewers but actually was kinda status quo for the era. ...Many films between 1967 and 1978 had the rather unfinished "imagine" type ending that left the viewer to determine the outcome in their own mind's eye.