Best Friends
Brief Synopsis
Longtime roommates and professional partners find they aren't prepared to make it legal.
Cast & Crew
Read More
Norman Jewison
Director
Burt Reynolds
Richard Babson
Goldie Hawn
Paula Mccullen
Jessica Tandy
Eleanor Mccullen
Audra Lindley
Ann Babson
Ron Silver
Larry Weisman
Film Details
Also Known As
Tjejen som inte ville gifta sig
MPAA Rating
Genre
Comedy
Drama
Romance
Release Date
1982
Production Company
Pacific Title & Art Studio; Panavision, Ltd.; Warner Bros. Pictures
Distribution Company
Columbia-Emi-Warner; Warner Bros. Home Entertainment Group; Warner Bros. Pictures Distribution
Location
New York City, New York, USA; Virginia, USA; Los Angeles, California, USA
Technical Specs
Duration
1h 56m
Synopsis
Two screenwriters who have lived together and worked together for years decide to escalate their relationship and marry. Soon into their marriage, they discover the great differences between being a married couple rather than best friends
Director
Norman Jewison
Director
Cast
Burt Reynolds
Richard Babson
Goldie Hawn
Paula Mccullen
Jessica Tandy
Eleanor Mccullen
Audra Lindley
Ann Babson
Ron Silver
Larry Weisman
Barnard Hughes
Tim Mccullen
Noah Hathaway
Lyle Ballou
Keenan Wynn
Tom Babson
Carol Locatell
Nellie Ballou
Richard Libertini
Jorge Medina
Peggy Walton-walker
Carol Brandon
Mikey Martin
Robbie Ballou
Helen Page Camp
Maid
Joan Pringle
Doria
Vincent J Isaac
Cab Driver
Jeff Bannister
Shoe Salesman
Alfred Mariorenzi
Gate Guard
David Cullinane
Waiter
Rodney Kageyama
Meter Reader
Terrence Currier
Henry Spaulding
Nan Rickert
Marion Talbot
James Scopelitis
Bob Skinner
Elaine Dunstan
Edwinda Coolie
Cal Kirby
Man At Table
Walter Davy
Ron Barbero
Catherine A Frederico
Mccullen'S Neighbor
James D Griffin
Coach
Jennifer Jewison
Skier
Wally Mcmahon
Conductor
Doug Roberts
Stuart
Brian Corrigan
Waiter
Michele O'brien
Patti
Daniel Bushnell
Craig
Lynn Sue Nitkin
Girl In Restaurant
Jim Lewis
Diner
William B Kennedy
Conductor
Aulinda Gigena
Wedding Chapel Owner
Dora Baldor
Secretary
Michael Taylor
Leadman
Crew
Henry Alberti
Set Design
Ann Ashcraft
Production Coordinator
Patti Austin
Song Performer ("How Do You Keep The Music Playing" "Think About Love")
Alan Bergman
Lyrics ("How Do You Keep The Music Playing?" "Think About Love")
Marilyn Bergman
Lyrics ("How Do You Keep The Music Playing?" "Think About Love")
Else Blangsted
Music Editor
Kathryn Blondell
Hairstyles
Gabriel Borgo
Hairstyles
Elyane Bretherton
Assistant Editor
Neil Brody
Sound Rerecording
Stanley Brossette
Unit Publicist
Tom Case
Makeup
Larry Cavanaugh
Special Effects
Earl L Clark
1st Assistant Camera
Betsy Cox
Costumes
Jordan Cronenweth
Dp/Cinematographer
Jordan Cronenweth
Director Of Photography
Valerie Curtin
Screenwriter
Tom Ellingwood
Makeup
Jane Feinberg
Casting
Mike Fenton
Casting
Louis S Fleming
Property Master Assistant
Carey Griffith
Key Grip
Dow Griffith
Location Manager (Los Angeles)
Lynda Gurasich
Hairstyles
Don Hall Jr.
Sound Editor
Richard Hart
Gaffer
Robert Hatfield
Production Assistant
Rita Hyde
Personal Assistant (To Goldie Hawn)
James Ingram
Song Performer ("How Do You Keep The Music Playing" "Think About Love")
Tom Jacobson
Production Manager
Johnny Jensen
Camera Operator
Kevin Jewison
2nd Assistant Camera
Norman Jewison
Producer
Candace Koethe
Other
Michel Legrand
Songs ("How Do You Keep The Music Playing?" "Think About Love")
Michel Legrand
Music
Mario Leone
Apprentice Editor
Barry Levinson
Screenwriter
Marci Liroff
Additional Casting
Robert J Litt
Sound Rerecording
William Maldonado
Construction Coordinator
Johnny Mandel
Song Arranger ("How Do You Keep The Music Playing?" "Think About Love")
Mickey Mcateer
Transportation Captain
Jim Mcgee
Construction Foreman
Charles Milhaupt
Assistant (To Producers)
Leanne Moore
Production Accountant Assistant
Carol Ness
Casting (Virginia Extras)
Stuart Neumann
Location Manager (Virginia)
Bonnie Palef
Assistant
Greg Palmer
2nd Assistant Director
Patrick Palmer
Producer
Win Phelps
1st Assistant Director
Greg Phillinganes
Song Arranger ("How Do You Keep The Music Playing?" "Think About Love")
Linda Phillips-palo
Casting (New York Extras)
Craig Pinkard
Transportation Coordinator
Anne Pritchard
Visual Consultant
Thomas Roysden
Set Decorator
Josan F Russo
Art Direction
Norman Saling
Wardrobe (Burt Reynolds)
Johanne Samuel
Other
John Shannon
Stills
Victoria J Snow
Wardrobe (Women)
George Szeptycki
Art Direction Assistant
Cynnie Troup
Script Supervisor
Elliot Tyson
Sound Rerecording
Tom Udell
Production Accountant
Jim Van Wyck
2nd Assistant Director
Don Vargas
Wardrobe (Men)
Janet Wattles
Production Accountant Assistant
Charles Wilborn
Sound Recording Mixer
Dagmar Wittmer
Casting (Virginia Extras)
Joe Wizan
Executive Producer
Eric Young
Location Manager (New York)
Eric Young
Location Manager
John Zemansky
Property Master
Don Zimmerman
Editor
Videos
Movie Clip
Film Details
Also Known As
Tjejen som inte ville gifta sig
MPAA Rating
Genre
Comedy
Drama
Romance
Release Date
1982
Production Company
Pacific Title & Art Studio; Panavision, Ltd.; Warner Bros. Pictures
Distribution Company
Columbia-Emi-Warner; Warner Bros. Home Entertainment Group; Warner Bros. Pictures Distribution
Location
New York City, New York, USA; Virginia, USA; Los Angeles, California, USA
Technical Specs
Duration
1h 56m
Award Nominations
Best Song
1982
Articles
Best Friends
Longtime roommates and professional partners find they aren't prepared to make it legal.
Best Friends
Longtime roommates and professional partners find they aren't prepared to make it legal.
Best Friends on DVD
Screenwriters Barry Levinson and Valerie Curtin based Best Friends on their own lives. Burt Reynolds and Goldie Hawn play Hollywood screenwriters and lovers who have lived together for the last five years. Providing the twist to the story is that he wants to get married but she is afraid to commit. She finally gives in ("Promise me one thing. We won't tell anyone!") and, courting disaster, they set off to visit each other's parents to give them the news.
As in all the "meet the parents" formula movies, the elders are horrors but Levinson and Curtin make them more believable than usual, more annoying than nightmarish, and use them to highlight problems in the younger couple's relationship. Both Hawn and Reynolds help ground Best Friends as well, providing some of the best performances of their careers full of small touches that reveal the turmoil behind the barely controlled façade of pleasantry each must present to their in-laws.
The movie was shot on location in Buffalo, New York during the winter, which must have been fun, and Vienna, Virginia plus Hollywood and an Amtrak train, all beautifully photographed by Jordan Cronenweth the same year he shot the quite-dissimilar Blade Runner (1982). One drawback, however, is a couple of rather bland Hollywood pop songs that litter the soundtrack (and provided the movie with its only Academy Award® nomination). The DVD provides viewers with the blessed relief of fast-forward to get them through the songs.
As for what happened in real life, it appears that writing that screenplay was as dangerous for Barry and Valerie's relationship as marriage was for their fictional counterparts. The two divorced the year Best Friends was released and just as Levinson wrote and directed his first triumph, Diner (1982). From there Levinson became one of Hollywood's most bankable directors, winning the Oscar® for Rain Man (1988) while marrying Dianna Rhodes whom he met during the filming of Diner. Curtin continued acting and producing for television while two leftover scripts from the former partnership were made into movies, the first a remake of Preston Sturges' Unfaithfully Yours (1984) followed by Levinson himself directing their script for Toys (1992).
One of the reasons to present this backstory here is that, although the DVD presents an excellent copy of the film, letterboxed for regular television and 16 X 9 for widescreen TV's, there are no extras, not even a trailer. Surely someone could have seen if Levinson and Curtin would like to relive old times with a commentary track?
For more information about Best Friends, visit Warner Video. To order Best Friends, go to TCM Shopping.
by Brian Cady
Best Friends on DVD
With its generic, non-descript "see, we have two stars and they like each other!" cover, shoppers spying the new DVD release Best Friends (1982) might be excused in thinking it just another piece of cookie-cutter Hollywood romantic comedy, interchangeable with many others. They would be wrong. Best Friends presents many signs of the Hollywood touch, but the script is outstanding, a very personal story of a real-life modern couple and how marriage nearly destroys their relationship.
Screenwriters Barry Levinson and Valerie Curtin based Best Friends on their own lives. Burt Reynolds and Goldie Hawn play Hollywood screenwriters and lovers who have lived together for the last five years. Providing the twist to the story is that he wants to get married but she is afraid to commit. She finally gives in ("Promise me one thing. We won't tell anyone!") and, courting disaster, they set off to visit each other's parents to give them the news.
As in all the "meet the parents" formula movies, the elders are horrors but Levinson and Curtin make them more believable than usual, more annoying than nightmarish, and use them to highlight problems in the younger couple's relationship. Both Hawn and Reynolds help ground Best Friends as well, providing some of the best performances of their careers full of small touches that reveal the turmoil behind the barely controlled façade of pleasantry each must present to their in-laws.
The movie was shot on location in Buffalo, New York during the winter, which must have been fun, and Vienna, Virginia plus Hollywood and an Amtrak train, all beautifully photographed by Jordan Cronenweth the same year he shot the quite-dissimilar Blade Runner (1982). One drawback, however, is a couple of rather bland Hollywood pop songs that litter the soundtrack (and provided the movie with its only Academy Award® nomination). The DVD provides viewers with the blessed relief of fast-forward to get them through the songs.
As for what happened in real life, it appears that writing that screenplay was as dangerous for Barry and Valerie's relationship as marriage was for their fictional counterparts. The two divorced the year Best Friends was released and just as Levinson wrote and directed his first triumph, Diner (1982). From there Levinson became one of Hollywood's most bankable directors, winning the Oscar® for Rain Man (1988) while marrying Dianna Rhodes whom he met during the filming of Diner. Curtin continued acting and producing for television while two leftover scripts from the former partnership were made into movies, the first a remake of Preston Sturges' Unfaithfully Yours (1984) followed by Levinson himself directing their script for Toys (1992).
One of the reasons to present this backstory here is that, although the DVD presents an excellent copy of the film, letterboxed for regular television and 16 X 9 for widescreen TV's, there are no extras, not even a trailer. Surely someone could have seen if Levinson and Curtin would like to relive old times with a commentary track?
For more information about Best Friends, visit Warner Video. To order Best Friends, go to
TCM Shopping.
by Brian Cady
Quotes
Trivia
Miscellaneous Notes
Released in United States December 1982
Released in United States Winter December 17, 1982
Released in United States December 1982
Released in United States Winter December 17, 1982
