The Next Best Thing

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The Next Best Thing ★½ 2000 (PG-13)

L.A. yoga instructor Abbie (Madonna) manages to get preggers thanks to a drunken one-nighter with gay best friend, Robert (Everett). She has the kid, they decide to live together and share parental responsibilities (but nothing more), and for six years things just go along swimmingly. Then Abbie meets the perfect guy—investment banker Ben (Bratt). But Ben is planning to relocate to New York and suddenly sole custody is all that matters to Abbie—even it means a court case. Sappy, predictable story falls prey to Madonna's limited acting ability though both Everett and Bratt supply charm galore. 108m/C VHS, DVD . Madonna, Rupert Everett, Benjamin Bratt, Michael Vartan, Josef Sommer, Lynn Redgrave, Malcolm Stumpf, Neil Patrick Harris, Illeana Douglas, Mark Valley, Stacy Edwards; D: John Schlesinger; W: Tom Ropelewski; C: Elliot Davis; M: Gabriel Yared. Golden Raspberries ‘00: Worst Actress (Madonna).