The Next Big Thing
Release Date:
May 29, 2002
Limited release
Opening in a very limited number of venues, The Next Best Thing is a definite niche film that is sure to find an audience amongst devotees of the New York contemporary art scene. The plot revolves around a starving artist named Gus Bishop who can't even manage to give his paintings away. When a con artist named Deech Scumble snatches one of the paintings and cons his landlord into accepting it in place of rent money, the word begins to spread that the painting was done by a reclusive artist named Geoffrey Buonardi, which becomes a second identity that Gus uses to create a new personality for himself so that he might find success.
Though none of the actors appearing in the film is widely known, there are certainly some recognizable faces. Chris Eigeman, probably best known to mainstream audiences as Mr. Herkabe on Malcolm in the Middle, plays the part of Gus. Eigeman is an actor with a following, having appeared in films such as The Last Days of Disco, Metropolitan and Barcelona. Mike Starr, who takes on the role of private investigator Walter Sznitken, will be familiar to fans of NBC's Ed, as he plays bowling alley employee Kenny Sandusky on that show.
The Next Best Thing is distributed by Castle Hill Productions and is directed by P.J. Posner, who co-wrote the screenplay with his brother Joel. Chances are strong that the film will be primarily a New York-exclusive release, but if it is well received (and early reviews are quite positive), it does have a chance to open in a few larger markets. (Kim Hollis/BOP)
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