The Filming Timeline Of Best Man's Final Chapter

The Best Man: The Final Chapters is an American comedy-drama miniseries that premiered on December 22, 2022. The show was filmed in New York City, New Jersey, and the Dominican Republic, with filming commencing on March 14, 2022. The series is a follow-up to the 1999 film The Best Man and its 2013 sequel, The Best Man Holiday, bringing viewers up to date with the lives of its beloved characters.

Filming locations

The Best Man: The Final Chapters was filmed in New York City, New Jersey, and the Dominican Republic.

The series returned to New Jersey for the filming of its conclusion, with Alpine and Secaucus featuring once again, as they did in the original 1999 film. Other New Jersey locations included the Red Bull Arena in Harrison, the W Hotel in Hoboken, Montgomery Street in Jersey City, Military Park in Newark, Bloomfield Avenue in Montclair, Glenpointe East in Teaneck, Montclair State University and Fairleigh Dickinson University, and Palisade Stages in Kearny.

The first two episodes of the series are set in the fictional Caribbean island of San Pierre, which was filmed in the Dominican Republic.

Cast

The cast of "The Best Man: The Final Chapters" included a mix of returning stars and new additions. The series brought back fan-favourite characters, with the original cast members reprising their roles.

Morris Chestnut returned as Lance Sullivan, Melissa De Sousa as Shelby Taylor, Taye Diggs as Harper Stewart, Regina Hall as Candace "Candy" Sparks-Murchison, Terrence Howard as Quentin Spivey, Sanaa Lathan as Robyn Stewart, Nia Long as Jordan Armstrong, and Harold Perrineau as Julian "Murch" Murchison. These actors and their characters were central to the story, picking up years after the previous instalment, "The Best Man Holiday."

In addition to the returning cast, new characters were introduced to create fresh dynamics and storylines. Nicole Ari Parker joined as Xiomara Amani, the self-absorbed fiancée of Quentin, whose presence throws the friend group into disarray. Yvonna Pearson portrayed Jasmine, a Caribbean concierge at the Spivey Hotel, who forms a connection with Lance. Other new cast members included Brandon Victor Dixon as Demetrius, Eric Scott Ways as LJ, the eldest child of Lance and Mia who comes out as non-binary, and Aaron Serotsky as Stan, Harper's literary agent.

The series also featured special cameos, such as Stephen A. Smith, adding surprise appearances to the mix of familiar and new faces.

Plot

"The Best Man: The Final Chapters" was filmed in New York City, New Jersey, and the Dominican Republic. The series was directed by Malcom D. Lee and premiered on December 22, 2022.

The show is a comedy-drama that follows the lives of a group of devoted friends, picking up a few years after "The Best Man Holiday" left off. The story begins with the friends reuniting in the fictional Caribbean island of San Pierre, in the Dominican Republic, for the wedding of Quentin's (Terrence Howard) son. The wedding also brings together Quentin's "secret lover", Shelby (Melissa De Sousa), and Murch's former flame, who is now a reality TV star and single mother.

The group of friends has gone through several changes since the last instalment. Lance (Morris Chestnut) is still grieving the loss of his wife, Mia, and is struggling to raise their four children as a single father. He has taken up "banging" random women to cope with the pain, but this no longer seems to be working. Harper (Taye Diggs) and Candace (Sanaa Lathan) are happily married with a daughter, and Harper's book, which caused so much misery in the first film, is now being turned into a movie. Jordan (Nia Long) is a successful executive at MSNBC, focused on her career but still longing for love. Murch (Harold Perrineau) and Candace's marriage is strong, but Candace wants to pursue other obligations, which will put more responsibility on Murch in raising their children.

The wedding in San Pierre sets the stage for the group's reunion, and the story unfolds from there, exploring the complexities of mid-life career and relationship struggles, as well as the daily challenges of systemic racism. The series offers a mix of outrageous comedic moments, profound life transitions, and life-affirming transformations.

Reception

The Best Man: The Final Chapters was well-received by audiences, who had eagerly awaited the latest instalment of the beloved film franchise since 2013's The Best Man Holiday. The series was praised for its fun-filled, heartfelt, entertaining, comforting, and nostalgic exploration of the mid-life crises and renaissance of its endearing characters.

The series also received positive reviews from critics. The review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes reported a 91% approval rating with an average rating of 8/10, based on 11 critic reviews. Metacritic, which uses a weighted average, assigned a score of 58 out of 100 based on 4 critics, indicating "mixed or average reviews".

The series was particularly commended for its portrayal of black friends navigating the daily slights and life-threatening crises of systemic racism. For example, one review highlighted the scene where Murch and his daughters confront a taxi-stealing Karen and two white police officers. The series also addresses Harper being encouraged by his white male literary agent to peddle fluff "Costco" novels rather than write the Reconstruction Era love story that occupies his dreams.

However, some critics found that the series fell short in terms of loose ends and narratives that needed more attention, if not resolution. For instance, the wedding between Quentin and Shelby in San Pierre, after which Shelby reveals to Quentin that he is Kennedy's biological father, left many viewers wanting a deeper exploration of the breach of trust. Additionally, there were a couple of lapses in the glossy Hollywood look of the series, with a few scenes appearing to fall short of this standard, such as a stadium scene and a movie premiere with a thin "crowd" of fans and paparazzi.

Production

The Best Man: The Final Chapters is an American comedy-drama miniseries that premiered on Peacock on December 22, 2022. It is the third installment of The Best Man franchise, following the 1999 film The Best Man and its 2013 sequel, The Best Man Holiday.

The series was created by Malcolm D. Lee and developed by Lee and Dayna Lynne North, who also serve as executive producers. Filming for the limited series began on March 14, 2022, and took place in New York City, New Jersey, and the Dominican Republic.

The production returned to New Jersey, where the original 1999 film was partially filmed. Specific filming locations in New Jersey included the Red Bull Arena in Harrison, the W Hotel in Hoboken, Montgomery Street in Jersey City, Military Park in Newark, Bloomfield Avenue in Montclair, Glenpointe East in Teaneck, Montclair State University, and Fairleigh Dickinson University. The series also shot on location in Alpine, where the original film was shot.

The production took advantage of New Jersey's Film & Digital Media Tax Credit Program, which offers eligible production companies a transferable tax credit of up to 35% on qualified film production expenses, plus an additional 2%-4% diversity bonus for qualified productions. According to David Smith, Vice Chairman of the New Jersey Motion Picture and Television Commission, Universal Television reported hiring 150 cast and crew members and spending over $45 million in New Jersey for labor, goods, and services.

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