The Best Man

Essay by jordan8900 September 2004

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Manos Mathew 6/10/03

Prof. F. Connol

The Best Man

Taye Diggs plays Harper Stewart, a commitment-shy writer whose about to become famous. Leaving behind his girlfriend Robin, he heads to New York City to serve as best man for his friend Lance's wedding (Morris Chestnut). Once there, he reunites with the rest of his college buddies Murch (Harold Perrineau), Quentin (Terrence Howard) and the professionally motivated Jordan (Nia Long), with whom Harper has always shared a mutual sexual attraction. As the weekend unfolds, each member of the group had their turn reading Harper's new book Unfinished Business, something that Harper doesn't want to happen. The book reveals characters that are related to how Harper view's his college buddies and his experiences in college. As the celebration weekend nears, outrageous secrets begin to reveal themselves and the characters react in a negative way. Ultimately Harper finally realizes what he was missing in his life, and he learned to judge his life as opposed to the friends he judged in his book.

An interesting issue that I feel that this movie tackles is the perception by certain people of what marriage is. In the movie when the subject of marriage was brought up, Harper immediately responded by saying that marriage wasn't for him at this point. According to Harper, marriage meant living together for the rest of your life and it meant that this woman would be the last woman you would ever sleep with. The idea that marriage is a life sentence is the perception that Harper thinks, but he knows that sometime in his life he is going to have to settle down with a woman of his choice. However, Harper wasn't ready for a strong commitment. Similarly Quentin, Harper's college friend, has the mindset that one person shouldn't be...