Elliot once had a beautiful wife, a great job, a wonderful house. Then one day that all went away, corporate downsizing or something else, maybe something more sinister was afoot. Maybe Elliot was just flying higher than his pay grade. Maybe his destiny was to be eternally second best. For Elliot, being a loser might be the best thing that ever happened to him. <

Eric Weber's spot on character study of the restless and down trodden white America male is a bit of bittersweet magic. The character is Elliot (played by Joe Pantoliano) an average guy who discovers that being average is pretty common and may offer an untapped market. Once an advertising executive, he now lives in what appears to be his childhood home with his dog comforted by frequent gatherings of his lifelong buddies who are also arguably losers. He plays golf at a public course and must practically beg to get a tee time. He settles for an alluring but shallow crossing guard with charms a many.

As much as Elliot wants to be thought of as loser or second best, he is in fact far from it. His life may not be the one he wants, but it is certainly rich with hidden opportunity. His experience with the foxy crossing guard is a perfect example. One day while driving around, he meets Carole (the breathy buxom Jennifer Tilly). By merely complimenting her earrings, Elliot manages to score enough points to eventfully lead to a romantic interlude. This is hardly something I'd associate with a loser. But then Elliot is a different sort of loser, if the term is to be applied to him at all, he is the kind of guy who thinks of himself as a loser because he believes that he is capable of more than he has achieved. In other words, his reach often exceeds his grasp causing never-ending discontentment.

"Second Best" meanders its way to a two-pronged conclusion. Elliot is visited by his oldest best friend, Richard (Boyd Gaines), now an extremely successful movie producer (patterned one would think after Jerry Bruckheimer). When Elliot insists that Richard bunk with him in the old house in the old neighborhood, events are set in motion that are bound to lead Elliot to disappointment. It is Elliot's starry eyed hope that Richard will find his screenplay worth producing. Elliot is a self-described failed writer. But what Elliot doesn't know is that Richard doesn't like the screenplay but might find his loser persona marketable. p>You see, Elliot revels in his second bestdom. He has created a character, based on himself, appropriately called "the loser" who pontificates about all things lost. He writes lists of loser diatribes and scatters copies of them throughout the streets of his New Jersey town. It is the content of these lists that begrudgingly gets Elliot noticed. In time, he strikes a cord and is answering emails from other losers who identify with Elliot's writings. And much to his surprise he is not alone, misery loves company. But Elliot is blinded to the idea that the loser market might be worth expanding (or dare I say "exploiting").

When I first saw this subtly wonderful film, I was at the 2004 Sundance Film Festival. I spent a few minutes talking with filmmaker Eric Weber about his film and told him I liked the movie. The next day, outside a screening venue, I bumped into Weber in the hallway. The guy gave me a hug. While Weber is hardly a loser, his humble manner tells us a lot about the direction of this film.

Instead of taking the story down a typically formula path in which the loser becomes successful despite himself, Weber is content permitting his characters to develop casually and exhibit their own unique peculiarities and idiosyncrasies. This sets them apart from one another making the film concentrate fully on Elliot and his relationships instead of merely on plotting to an upbeat rewarding conclusion. While I've heard folks describe Weber's directorial style as "lazy" I would disagree, he isn't telling a story with "Second Best" as much as he is allowing his characters to introduce themselves at a time in their lives when interesting things are happening to them.

How that differs from the classic format (some might describe as "Shakespearian" having a beginning, middle, and end) is subtle because "Second Best" ends right when the loser's life might just be jump-starting. We've seen this before. I'm reminded of James L. Brooks' love or hate it masterpiece "As Good As It Gets." Brooks' successful loser, Melvin Udall (played by Jack Nicholson), has a personality that clouds his talents and often keeps him from enjoying the good things that happen to him. "Gets" ended with an upbeat moment but with a hint of sadness because one suspects that Melvin will inevitably find a way to ruin his happiness.

In "Second Best," Elliot is incapable of realizing when he has caught a break. Writer/Director Weber is blessed with an actor, Joe Pantoliano, who can effectively display Elliot's required sardonic acerbic personality. Even when things begin to look good for him, Pantoliano's body language and facial expressions tell us that Elliot is not having a good time. And remarkably Elliot is the kind of character we love to see because his constant discontentment mars even the good times with emotional complexity. Tarred happiness is the spice of life and helps make "Second Best" a winner.

"Second Best" will have its theatrical debut in New York City on May 27th, 2005, at the Angelika Film Center. Visit this link for tickets: http://www.angelikafilmcenter.com/newyork/comingsoon_film.asp?ID=934

Visit the great website set up by Eric Weber devoted to the musings and writings of Elliot, everyone's lovable loser: http://secondbest.org/

Visit the website devoted to the film "Second Best:" http://www.secondbestthemovie.com/

Jonathan W. Hickman

Related links:
IMDB: Second Best (2005)