Plot: What’s it about?
Alicia Glazer (Mia Kirshner) was a hard working student from a blue collar background, but now she lies in a drug induced coma. Her life had gone through a number of changes before she wound up in the hospital, but had she become a wild, drug addicted party girl, or is someone trying to get her out of the picture? It all started when she was paired up with the spoiled, snobbish Hadley Weston (Meredith Monroe) for a sociology project and finds herself in danger of not passing, thanks to Hadley’s procrastination. But soon, Alicia gets close to Hadley and her best friends Julianne (Rachel True) & Sydney (Dominique Swain), both of whom also love to party, drink, and get laid. These three girls have a different lifestyle than Alicia, but it is one she has dreamed of and now that’s she’s in their world, she never wants to leave. A chain of parties, fun times, bonding experiences, and even a lesbian encounter draw her deeper inside that world, but after a bad turn with some cocaine, Alicia now rests in a coma. As Sheriff Bonner (Taye Diggs) looks deeper into the events of the case, what will he discover about Alicia’s new lifestyle?
Although it has a solid cast and resides in a popular genre as a tense thriller, New Best Friend was shelved for several years before it hit theaters. Even then, it made a very limited run and has now landed on DVD, where most people will be able to see it for the first time. I wanted to like this movie, as it features a number of attractive young females and I do love a good thriller, but in the end, it stands as a basic, unoriginal genre effort. The framework of the events makes it hard to tell where the truth lies and that’s good, since the characters are often thin and the surprises are usually simple to guess ahead of time. The end is no shocker either, but it is handled in such a way that some surprise is left, in terms of character development. In truth, I was sometimes even bored with this movie, but a couple of nice lesbian scenes rekindled interest, to say the least. I mean, put Mia Kirshner and Dominique Swain in a lesbian love scene and I’ll purchase the disc, without any hesitation whatsoever. But for those not so taken with these two, I’d recommend a rental on this decent, but not too memorable thriller.
Her role is a supporting one here, but she has a number of memorable scenes and since she is so damn hot, I had to discuss Dominique Swain here. As usual, Swain is given a less than rich role to work with, but she has the skills to make even this bland role seem more interesting, though only to a certain extent. Her ability to play a likable bitch comes in handy in New Best Friend, since she is not the girl next door, but instead a somewhat mean, but beautiful rich girl with over forty male conquests and serious same sex tendencies. As I mentioned above, her lesbian scene with Kirshner is awesome and while not as explicit as some would like, it shows some flesh and Swain has the goods, without question. Other films with Swain include Lolita, Happy Campers, The Smokers, Tart, Girl, and Face/Off. The cast also includes Meredith Monroe (Tv’s Dawson’s Creek, Minority Report), Mia Kirshner (Not Another Teen Movie, The Crow: City of Angels), and Rachel True (Embrace of the Vampire, Half Baked).
Video: How does it look?
New Best Friend is presented in a 1.78:1 anamorphic widescreen transfer, with a full frame edition also included on this dual layered disc. Although not one of Columbia’s best transfers of late, this effort is quite good and for a movie that gathered dust for a few years, I’d say this presentation is more than solid. The flaws include speckles on the print, some softness, and spots of edge enhancement, but these remain minor in all cases and as such, I can’t see too many viewers being let down here. I found colors to be warm and error free, while contrast is bold and accurate at all times, no detail loss in the least. As I mentioned, this visual effort has some small problems, but still stands as a good looking treatment.
Audio: How does it sound?
A Dolby Digital 5.1 option is used here, but as the film is driven by dialogue most of the time, this is not the kind of track to demo your sound system with. A few scenes do liven up the mix and bring the surrounds to life, but outside of the music and a handful of other moments, the front channels handle the audio burden. This is not bad news per se, as the dialogue and other basic elements sound solid, but it does limit the depth and presence, so the mix seems flat at times and never that impressive. This disc also includes subtitles in English and French, in case you might need to use those.
Supplements: What are the extras?
The most substantial extra here is an audio commentary with director Zoe Clarke-Williams, who offers a solid overall session. Clarke-Williams leaves some silent moments, but does talk about the production a lot and tells some interesting behind the scenes stories. Not one of the better tracks I’ve heard, but if you liked the movie, then you’ll want to check it out. This disc also includes some talent files, as well as the film’s theatrical trailer.
