The Best of Times Reviews

What if the Cleveland Browns' Ernest Byner hadn't fumbled on his way into the end zone in the 1987 AFC championship game? THE BEST OF TIMES doesn't examine that possibility, but it does give Williams a chance to make up for the pass he dropped 13 years previously, costing his high school team a victory against its archrival. Ever since then his life has been mired in failure, while his friend Russell, the legendary quarterback of that team, has been equally plagued by apathy, bad luck, and a shaky marriage. Struck by inspiration, Williams decides to restage the game, but no one in town--including Reno--wants any part of the scheme until Jack goes on a rampage dressed as their rival's mascot. The game, of course, is played with predictably uplifting results. Director Spottiswoode emphasizes the slapstick elements of his material at the expense of the more intriguing aspects of his story, encouraging the audience to laugh at, rather than with, his well-observed small-town characters. Although Russell and Williams have good rapport, Williams' unique improvisational talents are restricted by the script (save for the hilarious training sequence), and the film suffers for it.