Product Details

• Actors: Elayn Taylor, Omar Epps, Richard T. Jones, Sean Nelson, Duane Finley
• Directors: Rick Famuyiwa
• Format: Closed-captioned, Color, HiFi Sound, NTSC
• Language: English
• Rating: R (Restricted)
• Number of tapes: 1
• Studio: Paramount
• VHS Release Date: August 1, 2000
• Run Time: 106 minutes
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars See all reviews (51 customer reviews)
• ASIN: 6305668426
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #12,221 in Video (See Bestsellers in Video)

  Popular in these categories: (What's this?)

  #62 in	Video > Comedy > Teen
  #85 in	Movies & TV > African American Cinema > Comedy

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com
It looks like writer-director Rick Famuyiwa started a popular trend with his marriage-jitters comedy about three friends who reminisce about their lives together as one prepares to leave the group when he gets married. Everyone who rushed to see The Best Man should catch this sleeper which also stars Taye Diggs (as Roland, the reluctant groom), as well as Omar Epps and Richard T. Jones, who together provide charming, cheerful performances full of warmth and humor. This buddy story is told through flashbacks to 1986, when the three met at public school. The young men gain our affection in their competition to win the most girls, which enhances the bond of loyalty we see in them as men on the eve of Roland's wedding. The casting of the boy actors is almost spooky in its perfection, especially Sean Nelson (who had already proven his acting acumen in American Buffalo) as the younger version of Epps. Although the cast is African American, there's no color bar to the themes or entertainment the movie offers, providing a salient lesson to network TV producers under attack by the NAACP for their inability to include characters of color in TV shows. Instead of stereotyping the characters by placing them in "the hood," where gang members and tragedy rule, this life-affirming comedy depicts the lives of members of "the wood," which refers to Inglewood, a middle-class suburb of L.A. that general audiences will find easy to relate to. --Lloyd Chesley

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

12 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars An Absolute Joy, January 21, 2000

By	"cathymarie" (Queens Village, NY United States) - See all my reviews

This movie was an absolute joy; one of the best black films I have seen in a long time. It definitely took me back to the days when all those great R&B songs were out and to my first crush and first boyfriend, etc. This movie just put together a whole bunch of good looking black people into a story that's not about violence or any kind of negativity, just pure fun; it's what life is all about for those of us who appreciate but can't fully relate to life in the hood. It was so much fun. I loved every minute of it. The story was great; the acting was convincing, the plot was realistic and it's a movie I will always think about with a huge grin on my face. Two thumbs way up in my book!

9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars GREAT MOVIE .., March 17, 2000

By	Tony_Tone "Anthony Jamal Smith" (Washington, D.C., District of Columbia United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Wood (DVD)

I am sure that every brother or sister can relate to this film .. When i came out the theatre from seein this film i just had a big ole smile on my face this movie is so exhiliarting.. I went to see it with three of my closes friends who i love like brothers pretty much like these guys in the film did.. Remember the school days, the silly little bets like who goin to get the girl first.. just the growing pains of being a teenager.. those were the times.. I cherish those times that why so much i cherish this film it hits so close to home.. I know every one is feeling what i say ..

17 of 20 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars This movie takes you back in the days, November 7, 1999

By	Rashee J Harris (Chicago IL.) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Wood (DVD)

This movie was good ,and funny. This movie was adout three boys growing up in engulwood california and they go though all the games we use to play the dodging gangbangers to school danceses and first time having sex and girls play hard to get. This movie is worth getting.