A seeminglyunshakable female friendshipis put to the test in director Delaney Buffett’s humorous and surprisingly believable comedy,Adult Best Friends.Buffett shares screenwriting credit with lifelong pal, producer and co-star Katie Corwin (City of Angels). The two met in middle school, in fact; Buffet once said they were spirited 10-year-old girls who “already had their periods.” Bonding instantly, the duo surfed life’s highs and lows together before coming to a crossroads in their early 30s. Could their childhood friendship withstand adulthood?
That’s the basic premise here in a film that milks the tensions spawned when one bestie in a BFF pair is about to head into marriage while the other one doesn’t appear to be moving forward in life at all. The movie immediately brings to minddirector/actress Pamela Adlon’s(Better Things) stellar 2024 comedy,Babes,which garnered decent attention. That movie tracked one friend braving motherhood while the other drifted into freefall.
It’s like that inAdult Best Friendsto an extent. The plot tracks Delaney and Katie (Buffett and Corwin), who have been inseparable since childhood. With the pair now in their 30s, Katie frets when her boyfriend, John (Mason Gooding), is ready to pop the question. She’s elated, but how will her best friend handle the news of Katie’s marriage? Delaney is single and living with a roommate, after all. Similar toBabes,this comedy relies on the sparks that ultimately fly between two friends, but unlike Adlon’s great comedy,Adult Best Friendsrelies more on its two stars than a script and great supporting cast. Which is a shame when said supporting cast includes Gooding, , and Zachary Quinto.
Please Don’t Grow Up
Adult Best Friends
Despite not making better use of its costars, there’s still joy in watchingAdult Best Friendsunfold. It’s also a well-constructed playground in which Buffett and Corwin can frolic. Buffett, in particular, emerges as a standout performer, slipping comfortably into a role of a party girl who loves to lay on the snark. Corwin charms all the way through. We wouldn’t mind seeing these two characters again somewhere.
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Here’s the lowdown: After the comedy sets up the dynamic between the two friends starting in childhood, we’re whisked off into their adult lives in no time. John (Gooding in a watered-down role) is eager to marry Katie. She holds him off, concocting an impromptu girls’ getaway for the weekend, all the way to the beach town where they met, but even there, Katie has trouble sharing the news.
The setting flings open the doors of the past as former friends and quirky encounters with strangers come into play, making Katie question her life choices and Delaney stand her ground as a free spirit. Things spin out of control when Delaney finds out Katie has been holding onto a secret. Cue: overreactions and arguments, most of which are entertaining even if they don’t quite feel altogether original. We’ve seen these kinds of scenes before.
Adult Best Friendsmarks the first feature from these filmmakers, and it’s a worthy yet faulty outing that tends to trip over how it executes its comedy. Things can go from genuinely amusing to overly absurd in a heartbeat. Still, if the goal was to generate laughs, spotlight a few freakish characters, and evoke a universal understanding of friendship’s importance, thenAdult Best Friendshas done its job.
One standout among the supporting cast is Cory Walls, playing a wound-too-tight house renter whose rules are a bit extreme. It would have been fun to play off this character more. As is, the jokes centered around the character tend to expire. Zachary Quinto, as Katie’s older brother, doesn’t bring much to the creative table. His character just isn’t given much to do. It’s nice to see the actor here, but the role seems wasted on a fine talent who, we’re guessing, believed in the project and wanted to help the filmmakers by making an appearance. Gooding also feels lost in the mix here.
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As the story heads to a fiery finish, you’re able to predict how things will play out. Despite its shortcomings, there’s no sin in letting yourself escape into this light and breezy flick. The film hits enough marks and can be a sweet little diversion from real life. Beyond that, its main stars give us something to look forward to in a potential future collaboration. Let’s see more of Delaney Buffett and Katie Corwin. They prove they can hold their own film. Perhaps too much.Adult Best Friendsis available on VOD February 28 from Gravitas Ventures.
