Second Best

Depending on your point-of-view, this story of 'Elliot', a self-proclaimed loser, is alternately depressing and amusing as it follows the travails of the ultimate frustrated writer. His animosity towards the world grows when he can't get published and is forced to post his 'literary' work around town on flyers stuck to telephone poles.

Then, to his surprise, Elliot's pseudo-'fictional' prose gets a response as it begins to strike a chord with his fellow downtrodden underachievers. But as pungent and funny as some of Elliot's observations may be to audience members, they do manage to strike his 'serious' readers close to the heart while at the same time aiming alarmingly closer to the bone of his close friends and associates.

Perfectly cast as said loser 'Elliot' is veteran actor Joe 'Joey Pants' Pantoliano who's supporting work in big-budget films like "The Matrix" and "Memento" has finally garnered him a major film role (of sorts). Elliot's sardonic wit gets a many-layered recitation from Pantoliano's lips (via voice-over primarily) as he perfectly captures the psychological depression and self-abuse that goes along with being the eternal outsider. Not to mention the even more deplorable fact that Elliot is a man who's sunk so low he's willing to borrow money from his ex-wife, mother, AND son just to maintain his paltry existence (and help pay for the flyers).

Elliot's polar opposite is his mega-successful childhood pal 'Richard', well-played with jaded zeal by veteran stage actor Guy Boyd, who continually dodges Elliots questions regarding a potential screenplay to be developed. Richard's knowledge of the business prevents his recognition of Elliot's populist appeal, leaving him with unenviable task of having to bring Elliot back to reality. Between them there is also an underlying jealousy which fuels their need to score decidedly humorous zingers against each other. Both Pantoliano and Boyd make the most of these verbal duels making these scenes the most enjoyable of the film.

The rest of the supporting cast is also above par and each character is given a choice moment to respond to Elliot's damnation of their feeble existences. The losers gang also provides plenty of comic relief throughout the film from the golf course to the local singles bar.

If it weren't for the reality TV audio quality and subpar video transfer this film would be very easy to recommend. However, if you feel that film is a visual medium and your theater isn't projecting this film in its original digital format then you might want to wait for the DVD. It'll be just as funny as a small-screen experience and a lot cleaner technically.

However, if you are the losingest loser in your neighborhood then maybe you should watch a second rate print of "Second Best" just to soothe your damaged ego. In any case, you've been warned.

I saw SECOND BEST last year at the Sundance Film Festival. Eric Weber has brought us a heart-felt and touching film about the lovable loser Elliot (played by the always entertaining Joe Pantoliano). Beyond being bitter sweet, this film is also very funny. It is not very often that a movie combines being so tragic and hilarious as well as Eric has in this film.

As a woman, I also found this movie enlightening. It is rare look into what men are really thinking from envy of wealthy friends to attraction to women they cannot have. This movie is required viewing for every woman out there, believe me, it makes you think! See this movie. You will be glad you did.

This is a wonderfully touching film which ventures into the hearts of middle-aged men and their insecurities. I loved watching 'Second Best,' for me it confirmed what I already knew; men have close friendships too! Although these men displayed obnoxious, juvenile natures and immature sensibilities they weren't above turning to a good friend for approval. The writer took time to craft and create characters with complex needs and difficult, painful life situations. This made the film very appealing to me as I was able to empathize with these male characters. Though there were few females amongst the cast, they provided interesting comic relief. These woman were portrayed as quirky, funny and smart people.

There was an element to the film that felt home-made. As the landscapes danced over the screen, the montage sequences read as if on a home video. I felt that I was watching shots of my childhood town drive by my eyes.

Well, i thought this film was going to be an uncomfortable and depressing experience, dealing as it does with personal failure and the jealousy, despondency and self-loathing it can create. But as it turns out, this film is a gem - real, uplifting, moving but unsentimental. It illustrates perfectly how people's unfulfilled aspirations and desires and their search for "success" can blind them to the true worthwhile and positive aspects of themselves and their lives.

I'm currently reading a book about status anxiety. This is a human condition that is rampant in modern society and it effects all of us to some extent - the need to keep up appearances with our peers (in a material sense) or else believe ourselves to be unloved, useless failures. money = success. This film illustrates this condition perfectly. It also shows us that no one can be a "loser" when they have good friends, people they love and care about and can have fun with. At the end of the day who is the real loser? The millionaire with no friends (real that is) or the toilet attendant with many?

Very few films like this are made any more - intelligent, though-provoking, profound and uncompromising. No car chases, no unnecessary violence, no product placement, just a very good film.

Written and directed by Edward Weber and produced and starring Joey Pantoliano, Second Best is a curious movie that is painfully entertaining, embarrassingly funny and surprisingly touching in the end. Debuting at Sundance last night, Weber's story is about the anti-heroes, the average Joes that have cashed in their dreams for mediocre careers and dysfunctional families. Accustomed to failure and disappointment, they now only play-act at success, and will grasp at the fringes of worldliness.

Weber effectively makes the case that there is nobility in the lives of the below-average and that the friendships that bind these people (for they have nothing else but friends) is of greater value and meaning than the worldly success they aspire to.

Pantoliano hasn't branched far from the tree of his typical roles. He plays Eliot, a wise-cracking, cynical, self-proclaimed loser with a broken marriage and a job selling menswear. He nevertheless is the catalyst for his gang of pals, one of which is a Hollywood mogul currently on top of the world. What's the allure? Eliot is a funny, interesting, original thinker who, in the end, we know to have a heart of gold. And even more important, they've been friends for life.

I wanted to like the movie, because it feels like an original theme and I cared about the characters. A little more plot would have been nice, though. I also began to weary of the Freudian obsession with sex in a group of 40-year-old men. And I never bought into the extraordinary insensitivity Eliot displays to his friends. And finally, the only remotely likeable female character is Eliot's mother, Barbara Barrie, who gives a nice comedic performance.

I am eager to see what Weber comes up with next.