Best Buddy Movies - Part 9
Posted on 1 Feb 00:00
Much of society fills their weekends by watching movies either at the theater or at home. It can be a joy finding just the perfect movie. Films cover many topics, including buddy themes. Here are a few of the best movies of the buddy film genre.
Plot: 'End of Watch' takes a look into the personal lives of two officers of a Los Angeles police department who serve in South Los Angeles. Among the many areas of their lives covered in the film are their friendship, relationship with one another, their day-to-day work routine, and how the duo handles a certain gang and its members.
Director: David Ayer.
Main Cast: Jake Gyllenhaal (as Officer Brian Taylor), Michael Peña (as Officer Miguel ‘Mike Z’ Zavala), and David Harbour (as Officer Van Hauser).
Critical Reception: 'End of Watch' was both a tremendous commercial success and a box office hit, grossing $57 million on a budget of $7-15 million. This film also received positive critical reviews from critics. Rotten Tomatoes awarded the movie an 85% approval rating and a 7.19/100 average rating based on 179 reviews. Rotten Tomatoes site's consensus read, 'End of Watch has the energy, devotion to characters, and charismatic performances to overcome the familiar pitfalls of its genre and handheld format.’ Metacritic used 37 critics to review the film, awarding it a 68/100 average weighted rating, suggesting a ‘generally favorable acclaim.’ Chicago Sun-Times also reviewed the movie, with one of its main critics, Roger Ebert, awarding the movie four stars out of the possible four, describing it as 'one of the best police movies in recent years, a virtuoso fusion of performances and often startling action.’
Awards and Nominations: 'End of Watch' received many accolades besides critical acclaim. The Golden Trailer Awards nominated the film for three awards, including the Best Action and the Best Foreign Action Trailer. Of the three award nominations, it won the Best Independent TV Spot (Open Road Films, Aspect Ratio). End of Watch also won the National Board of Review Award for Top Ten Independent Films. Other organizations that nominated the film for awards include the Critics’ Choice Movie Awards (Best Actor in an Action Movie for Jake Gyllenhaal), Independent Spirit Awards (Best Supporting Male for Michael Peña), and MTV Movie Awards (Best Latino Actor for Michael Peña).
Plot: This movie’s plot revolves around a rabbit police officer and a red fox con artist who work together to solve the disappearance of animals and they uncover a criminal conspiracy in a zootopic community inhabited by anthropomorphic mammals. The partnership that the rabbit and the con artist enter is unconventional, but the two work together to solve the crime(s).
Director: Byron Howard and Moore Rich.
Main Cast: Ginnifer Goodwin (as Judy Hopps, the young, optimistic rabbit police officer from Bunnyburrow), Jason Bateman (as Nick Wilde, the sly red fox con artist that enters a partnership with the rabbit police officer to uncover the conspiracy in their society), and Idris Elba (as Chief Bogo, an African buffalo who happens to be the police chief of the Zootopia Police Department's 1st Precinct).
Critical Reception: out of the Rotten tomatoes 293 reviews, 'Zootopia' earned a 98% approval rating and an 8.10/10 average rating, with a site’s consensus that reads, ‘The brilliantly well-rounded Zootopia offers a thoughtful, inclusive message that's as rich and timely as its sumptuously state-of-the-art animation—all while remaining fast and funny enough to keep younger viewers entertained.’ Metacritic did its review using 43reviws. It gave the movie a ‘generally a favorable review’ symbolized by the 78 out of 100 average ratings.
Awards and Nominations: The American Film Institute selected Zootopia as one of the 2016 Top Ten Films. The movie also won four Best Feature Film Awards from the Academy Awards, Critics Choice Movie Awards, Golden Globe, and Annie Awards.
Sequels and Television Spin-off: Howard and Moore held talks in June 2016 about the possibility of a 'Zootopia' sequel. Plans are underway to produce a television series known as Zootopia+ on Disney+ in 2022.
Plot: This film features a Peter, friendless man, whose new best man puts him in a strained relationship with his bride to be. Peter finds that his new friend, though well meaning, is so unconventional that it puts his career and relationship with his bride to be in jeopardy. Hilarious events ensue.
Director: John Hamburg.
Main Cast: Paul Rudd (as Peter Klaven), Jason Segel (as Sydney Fife), Rashida Jones (as Zooey Rice), and Andy Samberg (as Robbie Klaven).
Critical Reception: Rotten Tomatoes used 207 critics, resulting in an 83% approval rating and a 6.9/10 average rating for the film. The site's consensus reads, 'I Love You, Man makes the most of its simple premise due to the heartfelt and hilarious performances of Paul Rudd and Jason Segel.’ Metacritic conducted its survey using 34 critics, awarding the film a ‘generally favorable review’ for the movie as symbolized by the 70/100 average rating.
Awards and Nominations: 'I Love You, Man' was a modest commercial success, grossing $92.3 million on a $40million budget. At the 2009 MTV Movie Awards, the movie was nominated for the Best Kiss Award for the smooch between Doug and Peter, but it lost the award to Twilight. During the 21st GLAAD Media Awards, I Love You, Man was awarded the GLAAD Media Award for Outstanding Film – Wide Release.
Plot: Two girls on the verge of graduating from high school. Set out at the end of their last day's classes to party heavily and break rules they have lived by . The duo are outcasts, and have been excluded by their peers because of their bookworm and pretentious attitude. They decide to compensate for the time they have lost, and throw caution to the wind before graduation.
Director: Olivia Wilde.
Main Cast: Beanie Feldstein (as Molly Davidson), Kaitlyn Dever (as Amy Antler), Jessica Williams (as Miss Fine), and Lisa Kudrow (as Charmaine Antler).
Critical Reception: This film received wide critical acclaim. Rotten Tomatoes awarded it a 96% approval rating and a corresponding 8.29/10 average rating using 367reviews, with the site’s consensus reading, ‘Fast-paced, funny, and fresh, Booksmart' does the seemingly impossible by adding a smart new spin to the coming-of-age comedy.’ The film also won Metacritic’s approval, received an 84/100 averaged weighted rating based on 54 reviews.
Awards and Nominations: This film won the Austin Film Critic Association Best First Film Award and the GLAAD Media Award for Outstanding Film – Wide Release.
Plot: This movie features two buddies in their forty's, the middle-aged Miles, a budding writer, and his friend Jack, a past-prime and soon-to-be-married actor. The duo takes a road trip in Santa Ynez Valley wine country to celebrate Jack’s bachelor party and a series of plot twists occur.
Director: Alexander Payne.
Main Cast: Paul Giamatti (as Miles Raymond) and Thomas Haden Church (as Jack Cole).
Critical Reception: This movie garnered critical acclaim. Rotten Tomatoes held the film at a 98% approval rating and an 8.60/10 average rating, with the site’s consensus reading, ‘Charming, thoughtful, and often funny, Sideways is a decidedly mature road trip comedy full of excellent performances.’ Metacritic gave the film a favreview, symbolized by the 94/100 weighted average rating based on 42reviews.
Awards and Nominations: At the 77th Academy Awards, the movie was nominated for five awards, Best Picture (Michael London), Best Director (Alexander Payne), Best Supporting Actor (Thomas Haden Church), Best Supporting Actress (Virginia Madsen), and the Best Adapted Screenplay, which Alexander Payne and Jim Taylor won.
Two outcast high school nerds experiment on a computer to create the perfect woman. The two fret at an electrical accident that brings the ideal woman to life in the form of the beautiful, superhuman Lisa. She is way ahead of the duo in 'cool' and helps transform the two guys lives for the better.
Director: John Hughes.
Main Cast: Anthony Michael Hall (as Gary Wallace), Ilan Mitchell-Smith (as Wyatt Donnelly), and Kelly LeBrock (as Lisa).
Critical Reception: This movie received positive reviews from the critics who reviewed it. Chicago Sun-Times’ Roger Ebert said that LeBrock was wonderful at her performance, which according to Ebert, resulted in the film being ‘funnier, and a little deeper, than the predictable story it might have been.’ New York Times’ Janet Malsin remarked as follows, ‘Mr. Hughes shows that he can share the kind of dumb joke that only a 14-year old boy could love. There are enough moviegoing 14-year old boys to make a hit out of Weird Science, of course. Still, for the rest of the population, its pandering is strenuous enough to be cause for alarm.’
Awards and Nominations: At the 1986 Academy of Science Fiction, Fantasy & Horror Films, USA, Saturn Awards nominated Ilan Mitchell-Smith for the Best Performance by A Young Female Actor.
7. My Own Private Idaho (1991)
Plot: Two friends, Mike and Scott, set out on a journey of discovering themselves by traveling from Portland, Oregon to Mike's hometown in Idaho. The adventure continues when the two travel to Rome to find Mike's mother.
Director: Gus Van Sant.
Main Cast: River Phoenix (as Michael ‘Mike’ Waters) and Keanu Reeves (as Scott Favor).
Critical Reception: Roger Ebert said, ‘The achievement of this film is that it wants to evoke that state of drifting need, and it does. There is no mechanical plot that has to grind to a Hollywood conclusion and no contrived test for the heroes to pass.’ Rotten Tomatoes awarded the movie an approval rating of 79%, which was based on 58 reviews, with an average rating of 7.7/10. The website's consensus read, ‘glimpse of a talented director and his stars all at the top of their respective games, Gus Van Sant's loose reworking of Henry IV is smart, sad and audacious.’ Metacritic holds the film at a weighted average score of 77 out of 100. The reviews were based on 18 critics, suggesting ‘generally favorable reviews.’
Awards and Nominations: At the 1991 Deauville Film Festival, the movie won two awards for Coup de Coeur LTC and Best Critics. It also won two Independent Spirit Awards for Best Male Lead (River Phoenix) and Best Screenplay (Gus Van Sant).
Conclusion
Watching films can mostly be an exciting experience. These seven films are certainly excellent movies to consider.
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