Director: Filippo M. Prandi
Cast: Eric Roberts, Carol Alt, Rico Simonini, Brian Byus, Adrienne Lauren, Ken Dresslein, Nathaniel J. Ryan, Christopher Romero
Screenplay: Filippo M. Prandi
105 mins. Not Rated.

Filmmakers have had a difficult time in recent years to try and figure out how to handle COVID in filmic storytelling. For over a year, people all around the world were masked up and frequently testing themselves. The films that seemed to recognize COVID really struggled in their portrayal of the virus and the response. While films like Host really captured the vibe of stay-at-home orders, other films like Songbird turned COVID in a horror tale with an incorrect and inappropriate take on the future of the Coronavirus. Along comes My Last Best Friend, a film partly shot during the shutdown (with additional photography throughout 2021), which seems to access the confusion of the time quite well while using the fear of the time to showcase a tale of mistaken identity.

It’s March of 2020, and COVID has begun its shutdown of the entire country. Two men living together, both going by the name Walter Stoyanov (Eric Roberts, The Dark Knight), looking very similar, are dealing with the new changes to their lives. When one of them starts getting sick and the other is being investigated by an FBI Special Agent who believes he is hiding his real identity.

It’s difficult to competently have two characters played by the same actor, especially when they share so much screen time together, and in a film that has to juggle budget constraints as well, and Eric Roberts is able to more-than-competently give both characters life and personality. One is a more reserved and stern manner, the other a more lively, friendly, perhaps even gullible but soulful type. Roberts is able to imbue both with a level of humanity that is heightened but fitting.

As I mentioned above, it’s a rather difficult conversation to have about how to present COVID in the current pop culture landscape, but My Last Best Friend handles the subject rather capably. As it is part of the narrative, there’s no avoiding it, but Prandi is respectful and poignant in his portrayal, both in writing and directing the subject in his narrative debut.

Beyond that, My Last Best Friend is rather lacking in story. The COVID elements are strong, but so much of the story is dedicated to Walter’s family problems and the police investigation, both narrative pieces being so underwhelming. Prandi’s screenplay is lacking and his directing is rudimentary, something that happens with a lot of directing debuts. There are great kernels in the film, but outside of the scenes with Roberts acting across from himself, there isn’t much in terms of memorable dialogue or storytelling here.

Eric Roberts gives a lot of gravitas to My Last Best Friend, a film with some floundering storytelling and direction that is limited in style. While it covers COVID in an interesting way and features two good performances from one good actor, it just can’t maintain it’s run time.

2/5
-Kyle A. Goethe