USA/2014
Directed By: Brea Grant
Written By: Brea Grant, Vera Miao
Starring: Brea Grant, Vera Miao, Stacey Storey
Color/81 Minutes/Not Rated
Region 1
Release Date: March 25, 2014
The Film
Road trip films are often a vehicle used for any sort of relationship story. What better way to save a relationship than to work out your differences while exploring the highways and back roads of America. There's nowhere to go, you're in a car with your friend or lover for hours on end. It may not always be fun but some issues are going to be put on the table and often worked out in these films. They're also the perfect vehicle for some incredible amounts of hijinx. So you would think a road trip movie about two best friends traveling from Los Angeles to Austin in the middle of a nuclear apocalypse would be a fantastic set up for a great relationship story and some crazy situations.
Nope, it's not. At least not here. BEST FRIENDS FOREVER is about two friends, Harriet, a nerdy comic book artist who is on her way to Graduate School in Austin and her slutty friend Reba who is along for the ride. Shortly after their departure a series of nuclear bombs go off in various cities around the US, unbeknownst to them. Soon, Reba's slutty ways get them in trouble as a group of the least threatening hipsters of all time carjack them with a stun gun. Left without a car they hitch a ride with a crazy redneck and quickly bail on him to spend the night in an abandoned gas station. Upon arriving to Harriet's sister's house in Austin Reba learns about the bombs, a fact that Harriet had been hiding from her. A giant fight breaks out between the two until Reba's life is in danger from the local police force who are rounding up anybody that doesn't look American and Harriet saves the day.
BEST FRIENDS FOREVER is pretty painful. It's essentially hanging out with a couple of catty high school girls for an hour. The apocalypse barely plays a role in the film, with most signs of it just being from characters getting mildly sick and vomiting from radiation. Neither of our leads are very likeable, especially Reba who comes off as a fake, plastic bitch. And Harriet can't get out of her own way in her "woe is me" pity party. They can stay BFFs for all I care, they deserve each other.
The Audio & Video
Horizon Movies brings BEST FRIENDS FOREVER to DVD with an anamorphic widescreen transfer (1.78:1) and the image quality is decent. The photography is a bit soft througout, with boring and bland lighting concepts. The 2.0 stereo audio track gets the job done. It isn't going to blow you away but the mix is fine and you won't miss any dialogue because of it.
The Extras
The strongest point of the DVD is probably the special feature, which include:
-Audio commentary with Brea Grant, Vera Miao, and Michelle Lawler
-Behind The Scenes featurette
-BEST FRIENDS FOREVER Remix
-Kickstarter campaign video
-Art Of Best Friends Forever
-Trailer
The Bottom Line
I really liked the concept of BEST FRIENDS FOREVER, it just happens it got wasted on annoying characters, a weak script and an overall poor production.
BEST FRIENDS FOREVER is available HERE
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