Second Best (film)
| Second Best | |
|---|---|
| Directed by | Chris Menges |
| Produced by |
Arnon Milchan Sarah Radclyffe |
| Written by | David Cook |
| Starring |
|
| Music by | Simon Boswell |
| Edited by | George Akers |
|
Production
company |
Regency Enterprises
Alcor Films |
| Distributed by | Warner Bros. |
|
Release date
|
30 September 1994 |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Language | English |
| Box office | $86,115 |
Second Best is a 1994 British film produced by Sarah Radclyffe and directed by Chris Menges. It closely follows the 1991 novel of the same name by David Cook, who also wrote the screenplay.
Graham Holt (William Hurt) is a single man aged 42, who wants to adopt a ten-year-old son. Graham is a sub-postmaster in Warwickshire, England. James Lennards (Chris Cleary Miles) is a disturbed child brought up in Foster care. Graham wants a son, but James doesn't want another father at the time. Graham walks by an agency and starts looking at pictures of children, Being a single man and unmarried he decided maybe adoption is the way to go. He spots James picture and when he sits filling out the forms he is slightly baffled as to why he wrote son. Later in the film he makes a comment to James as to how desperate they must be to be considering himself to be a parent, 'since you can count on one hand the number of single men who wish to adopt.'
Graham Holt's emotional development has been smothered by his uncaring parents. Graham was born to parents who loved each other more than their son, never spending time with him and later on pretending to be interested in him. His mother passes on and a year later his father suffers a stroke which means Graham has to now care for him. Later in a heart felt scene Graham's father passes and James bring out a shell placing it on Graham's ear, the one good memory Graham ever had of his father. This takes place later on in the film.
James has been shifted from foster home to group home throughout his short life. Causing some disruptions and being unable to relate to women. Due to the nature of his past he has a hard time coping, Anger, self-mutilation are just a few things that Happens with young James. He only has a vague memory of his mother when he was aged 3, but has a vivid and romantic image of his father. James’s father is in and out of prison and has spun tales of him being a 'mercenary' in the one time they have spent together on the run. Near the end of the film, James finally dreams and remembers what has happened to his mother.
As Graham goes through the extended vetting process to be an adoptive parent, He then has to attend classes and meet regularly with social workers. Graham and James meet and the embarrassed silences demonstrate Graham's nervousness and James’s fears of the situation. Graham is not sure how to behave, nor what to say, due to being nervous. He talks about wanting a son, and suggests what James needs, ungracefully saying that James need a father, but stammering on the what James needs is that special someone to look after his needs.
Throughout the movie James has flashbacks of his past about his father and his mother. They cause him to act out, from self-mutilation to destruction of property. Asked by Jamie's Key worker, if Graham likes children his reply is ‘Yes but I don't think I could eat a whole one.’ Trying to make a tense situation easier. The Key Worker is cut off from explaining issues about James when James enters the room.
...
Wikipedia