Best Man Down

Cinephile deep dive

The take

Ted Koland directs. Seamus Tierney behind the camera. Mateo Messina scores. Grant Myers cuts. Runs lean at under 100 minutes. A commercial under-performer on release. Produced in United States of America. Dialogue in English.

Trivia

Things worth knowing

• 190 minutes exactly — the "classic feature" runtime most directors aim for.
• 2Shot for just $1.5M — micro-budget by Hollywood standards.
• 3Earned back only 0% of its budget on initial theatrical — a commercial disappointment on release.
• 4Released 14 years ago.
• 5Directed by Ted Koland, shot by Seamus Tierney. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.
• 6Original score by Mateo Messina. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.
• 7Editor Grant Myers shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.
• 8Justin Long and Jess Weixler and Addison Timlin carry the top of the cast.
• 9IMDB entry: tt1885300 — still the authoritative cross-reference for credits and trivia.

The technical file

Cinematography

Seamus Tierney

Original score

Mateo Messina

Editing

Grant Myers

Production design

Jade Healy

Costume design

Kiersten Hargroder

Makeup / hair

Crist Ballas

Sound

John M. Chalfant

Runtime

90 min · 1h 30m

Status

Released

Budget

$1,500,000

Box office

$1,938

Return

0% of budget

Original language

EN

Certification (US)

PG-13

IMDB

Best Man Down (2012) ↗

Trailers & featurettes

Watch the pieces

• 

  ▶
  Official Trailer

  Trailer · Official

Community reviews

What people are saying

• Reno2016-07-04
  ★ 8/10

  How one sad event that changed many peoples' lives. Originally it was known as 'Lumpy', but this new title seems much better. Even though this title name is somewhat misleading regarding the film subject. I saw it a couple of years delayed, because I was not interested after knowing the title thinking it might be some kind of a silly B comedy. Surprisingly, this was one of the best films of the 2013 I've seen. This is not a comedy alone as it was classified, but a beautiful semi-emotional drama just like the film 'The Guilt Trip'. The cast was so good, I loved everyone's performances. But in the opening, it looked like a mindless comedy with dumb characters. Only while the film progress, it slowly developed many awesome plots and I was totally impressed with it, especially for the way it ended. Yep, it concluded on a high note compared to the ordinary initiation. I think credit should go the writer-come-director, as well as the actors. It was a two layered narration that sets in two different cities where one of it was a flashback, but both of them meets during the middle. So what comes later was the best segment. The second half is what made this film a better product. This is not an extraordinary film, but for a small project and its not so popular cast, it really excelled my expectation. Well maintained suspense, and I don't think anybody could guess them out that easily. Till the final scene, it'll keep you alive, especially if you like melodrama you'll surely enjoy it better than others. Lately Justin Long has been doing some of the interesting small-scale films and this is one of them that you should try it if you're a film fanatic without barriers in viewing any category films. 7.5/10

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• Kamurai2020-08-13
  ★ 7/10

  Really good watch, could watch again, and can recommend. This honestly isn't a traditional comedy: it's more a mystery than a comedy. I'm not a big fan of Tyler Labine, but he does do charmingly hapless really well, and he carries the movie, even in the scenes where he's not there because the impression he lands is so palatable as they talk about him it really builds the character. While the rest of the supporting cast is incredibly well balanced, Justin Long and Addison Tomlin really run away with it. For a movie that is half about a couple with newly wed problems, all that really slids away in wake of this wonderful, heart warming tale of friendship and what it means to be family, blood or no.

  Read full review ↓

Production companies

Who made it

• KO

  KODA Entertainment

Key crew

• EditorGrant Myers
• Production DesignJade Healy
• Costume DesignKiersten Hargroder
• CastingTricia Wood
• CastingLynn Blumenthal
• ProducerSharyn Steele
• ProducerJen Roskind
• ProducerDavid Abbitt
• Script SupervisorMolly Katagiri
• Set DecorationBritni West
• Makeup ArtistCrist Ballas
• Makeup ArtistLorraine Martin
• HairstylistMiki Sautbine
• Hair Department HeadBrenda Torre
• Executive ProducerChris Colbert
• Executive ProducerJeff Donald
• Executive ProducerScott Hill
• Executive ProducerJohn Hood
• Executive ProducerBobby Sanders
• Sound Re-Recording MixerJohn M. Chalfant
• Sound MixerJim Morgan
• Dialogue EditorXander Lott

Release history · US

When it landed

• Theatrical2012-10-20PG-13