Best Buddy Movies- Part 2
Posted on 1 Jul 00:00
Movies are among the wonderful gems in the entertainment industry. Buddy movies are an example of these wonderful films. They range from comedies to crime to Westerns. This article discusses seven movies of the best buddy films made.
Plot: The plot depicts two brothers, Jake and Elwood Blues. When Jake is released from prison, he reunites with his brother Elwood, collectively known as ‘The Blues Brothers.’ Jake has a lot plans, and his first task is to save the orphanage the brothers grew up in from closing by raising $5,000 to pay back taxes. Jake and Elwood are convinced they can earn the money by getting their old band back together. However, after playing several gigs and making a few enemies, including the police, the brothers face tought odds to deliver the money on time. Hundreds of police, state troopers, SWAT teams, firefighters, Illinois National Guardsmen, and the Military Police are all after the duo, and it seems almost impossible to raise the funds for the tax bill.
Director: John Landis.
Main Cast: John Belushi (as ‘Joliet’ Jake Blues, a former blues singer, paroled from prison after three years) and Dan Aykroyd (as Elwood Blues, Jake's blood brother, also a former blues singer).
Critical Reception: 'The Blues Brothers' mostly received positive reviews. Rotten Tomatoes gave the film a 73% approval rating based on 89 reviews. The site’s consensus read, ‘Too over the top for its own good, but ultimately rescued by the cast's charm, director John Landis' grace, and several soul-stirring musical numbers.’ Roger Ebert of the Chicago Sun-Times gave The Blues Brothers three out of four stars, praising it for its energetic musical numbers and 'incredible' car chases. Metacritic gave the film a score of 60 based on 12 reviews, indicating 'mixed or average reviews.
Awards and Nominations: The Blues Brothers film won two Golden Reel Awards for Best Sound Editing and Sound Effects and was 14th on Total Film magazine's ‘List of the 50 Greatest Comedy Films of All Time.’ It emerged number 69 on Bravo's ‘100 Funniest Movies.’ The American Film Institute (AFI) nominated the movie for the following listings; AFI's 100 Years...100 Laughs, AFI's 100 Years...100 Songs: ‘Think,’ and AFI's 100 Years...100 Movie Quotes: ‘We're on a mission from God.’
2. The Magnificent Seven (1960)
Plot: 'The Magnificent Seven' film features a group of seven gunfighters hired to protect a small village in Mexico from a group of marauding bandits.
Director: John Sturges.
Main Cast: Yul Brynner (as Chris Adams, a Cajun gunslinger and the leader of the seven), Steve McQueen (as Vin Tanner, a drifter), and Charles Bronson (as Bernardo O'Reilly, the professional in need of money).
Critical Reception: This film's script was a subject of contention. It did not reflect the true and original work from which it was adapted. The contemporary reviews vary from mixed to positive. Howard Thompson of The New York Times called the film a ‘pallid, pretentious and overlong reflection of the Japanese original.’ According to Variety, ‘Until the women and children arrive on the scene about two-thirds of the way through, The Magnificent Seven is a rip-roaring rootin' tootin' western with lots of bite and tang and old-fashioned abandon. The last third is downhill, a long and cluttered anti-climax in which The Magnificent Seven grow slightly too magnificent for comfort.’
Sequels and Adaptations: Three sequels were eventually made: 'Return of the Seven' (1966), 'Guns of the Magnificent Seven' (1969), and 'The Magnificent Seven Ride' (1972). None were as successful as the original film. A television series, 'The Magnificent Seven', was also aired between 1998 and 2000.
Awards and Nominations: In 2013, this film was selected for the United States National Film Registry by the Library of Congress as being ‘culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant.’ The Magnificent Seven was listed at No. 8 on the American Film Institute's list of the top 25 American film scores. One of the film’s scores was nominated for Best Score of a Dramatic or Comedy Picture, losing to Ernest Gold's score for Exodus. At the 2021 Online Film & Television Association, the film won an OFTA Hall of Fame Award for Motion Picture. The movie received an Academy Award nomination for Best Music, Scoring of a Dramatic or Comedy Picture (Elmer Bernstein). Other nominations include the Golden Globe Award for Most Promising Newcomer – Male (Robert Vaughn), and three Laurel Awards for Top Action Drama, Top Action Performance (Yul Brynner), and Top Musical Score.
Plot: 'Trainspotting' is about a group of heroin addicts in an economically depressed area of Edinburgh and their passage through life. At the movie's center is Renton, a drug addict who tries to mend his ways by moving to London and getting a new start on life. However, he is pulled back into the world of addiction by his friends. The theme goes beyond drug addiction and looks at the exploration of urban poverty and squalor in Edinburgh.
Director: Danny Boyle.
Main Cast: Ewan McGregor (as Mark ‘Rent Boy’ Renton), Ewen Bremner (as Daniel ‘Spud’ Murphy), and Jonny Lee Miller (as Simon ‘Sick Boy’ Williamson).
Critical Reception: Rotten Tomatoes received a 91% approval rating based on 85reviews. On Metacritic, the film has a weighted average score of 83 out of 100 based on 28 reviews, indicating universal acclaim.
Awards and Nominations: In 1996 the British Academy Film Awards nominated 'Trainspotting' for two awards, Best British Film and John Hodge for Best Adapted Screenplay. Hodge won this award and another Best Screenplay from the Evening Standard British Film Awards. At the 1996 Seattle International Film Festival, the film won the Golden Space/ Best Film Award. Ewan McGregor was named Best Actor from the London Film Critics Circle, BAFTA Scotland Awards, and Empire Magazine. Hodge was also nominated for the Academy Award for Best Adapted Screenplay but lost to Billy Bob Thornton's Sling Blade.
4. O Brother, Where Art Thou? (2000)
This film is set in 1937 rural Mississippi during the Great Depression. Its story is a modern satire loosely based on Homer's epic Greek poem 'The Odyssey', which incorporates the American South's social mores. The title of the film is a reference to the Preston Sturges 1941 film 'Sullivan's Travels'. In the 1941 movie, the protagonist is a director who wants to film 'O Brother, Where Art Thou?', a fictitious book about the Great Depression.
Plot: The plot depicts three friends on a risky adventure. After escaping prison, Ulysses, Delmar, and Pete embark on a journey to find a hidden treasure. As lawmen pursue them, a new companion and encounters with antisocial elements turn their lives upside down.
Director: Joel and Ethan Coen.
Main Cast: George Clooney (as Ulysses Everett McGill), John Turturro (as Pete), and Tim Blake Nelson (as Delmar O'Donnell).
Critical Reception: Rotten Tomatoes gave it a score of 77% based on 151 reviews and an average score of 7.12/10 while Metacritic gave it a rating of 69% based on 30reviews.
Awards and Nominations: In 2000, the movie was selected into the main competition of the 2000 Cannes Film Festival. It also received two Academy Award nominations at the 73rd Academy Awards: Best Adapted Screenplay and Best Cinematography. George Clooney received the Golden Globe Award for Best Actor – Motion Picture Musical or Comedy. The film was also nominated for the Golden Globe Award for Best Motion Picture – Musical or Comedy.
Many movie buffs would agree that the 1994 Clerks an independent black and white buddy comedy film is one of the best buddy movies ever produced.
Plot: The 1994 film, 'Clerks' depicts two store clerks, Dante, the Quick Stop clerk) and Randal, his best friend who is the clerk at the video store next door. They wild away their days together at the Quick Stop neglecting customers, discussing movies and play hockey on the store roof most of their work day.
Director: Kevin Smith.
Main Cast: Brian O’Halloran (as Dante Hicks), Jeff Anderson (as Randal Graves), and Marilyn Ghigliotti (as Veronica Loughran).
Critical Reception: the movie was well-received by critics and has since become a cult film. Rotten Tomatoes gave it an 88% approval rating based on 52 reviews, while Metacritic gave the film a 70% approval rating based on 17 reviews.
Awards and Nominations: 'Clerks' won the ‘Award of the Youth’ and the ‘Mercedes-Benz Award’ at the 1994 Cannes Film Festival. In 2019, the Library of Congress selected the film for preservation in the National Film Registry for being culturally, aesthetically, or historically fit. It was also nominated for three Independent Spirit Awards (Best First Feature, Best First Screenplay, and Best Debut Performance for Jeff Anderson).
6. The Grand Budapest Hotel (2014)
Plot: At the center of the movie is Gustave H, a concierge, who is wrongly framed for murder at the Grand Budapest Hotel. Gustave tries to prove his innocence and, in the process, befriends a lobby boy as they experience a series of insanely dangerous and funny encounters while on the run.
This movie is pure fun and zaniness at its best!
Director: Wes Anderson.
Main Cast: Ralph Fiennes (as Monsieur Gustave H.), and Tony Revolori (as Zero Moustafa), the newly hired bellhop mentored by Gustave.
Critical Reception: 'The Grand Budapest' received many positive critical reviews and appeared on most end-of-2014 lists for highly acclaimed films.
Awards and Nominations: At the 87th Academy Awards, this film topped the list with nine nominations. It won four. It also received a Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by a Cast in a Motion Picture and a César Award for Best Foreign Film. The Grand Budapest Hotel was a candidate for other awards for excellence in writing, acting, directing, and technical achievement. The movie also won three Critics' Choice Awards, five British Academy Film Awards, and a Golden Globe in Best Motion Picture- Musical or Comedy.
Plot: the movie’s plot follows two hitmen, Roy and Ken, stuck in Bruges, Germany, after their mission goes wrong. The situation becomes complicated when their boss asks Ken to kill Ray.
Director: Martin McDonagh.
Main Cast: Colin Farrell (as Ray), Brendan Gleeson (as Ken Daley), and Ralph Fiennes (as Harry Waters).
Critical Reception: In Bruges film was generally well-received and got many positive reviews. Rotten Tomatoes gave the movie an 84% approval rating based on 198 critics, while Metacritic gave the film a 67% approval rating based on 34reviews.
Awards and Nominations: The British Academy Films Awards nominated 'In Bruges' for seven awards, including the Douglas Hickox Award (Debut Director), Best Performance by an Actor in a British Independent Film, and Best Screenplay, the latter of which it won. The Satellite Awards nominated the movie for two awards for Best Actor (Brendan Gleeson) and Best Film. The film was also nominated for the Golden Globe Award for Best Motion Picture – Musical or Comedy.
Conclusion
Buddy movies are among the most popular films in the movie industry. They range from comedy to crime, and can be immensely heartfelt. These are just seven of the best of these films that have been produced.
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