Today is Best Friends Day! To celebrate, we’ll be featuring movies with BFFs all week. This first post is about best bros. Later in the week, we’ll have posts on best lady friends and best male/female buddies. We’re equal opportunity like that.
48 Hours
The proto buddy cop movie, even though Eddie Murphy played a criminal. Two guys with two seemingly incompatible personalities join forces to stop bad guys. It also featured a rather startling amount of racism throughout. So, that’s something. I guess.
The Big Lebowski
Three of the strangest-yet-most-awesome best friends ever: Jeffery Lebowski (The Dude, or His Dudeness, or uh, Duder, or El Duderino, if you’re not into the whole brevity thing), Walter Sobchack, and Donnie — Donnie who loved bowling.
Brian’s Song
This movie is rough, but it’s one of the best sports/buddy films ever. It is no shame to shed broful tears while watching.
Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid
Two of my favorite actors in one of my favorite movies.
The Goonies
Indisputable fact: friends who find pirate gold together, stay together.
Lethal Weapon
One is a loose cannon with a gun fetish, the other is too old for this, um, stuff. A little more comedic, less hard-edged take on the 48 Hours formula.
Lonesome Dove
Two crusty old Texas Rangers (the law enforcement organization, not the horrible baseball team) with very different views on life drive cattle across the Old West. Kind of like a dustier, less edgy buddy cop movie.
The Odd Couple
Because sometimes best friends despise each other.
The Shawshank Redemption
Andy and Red probably never would have met in the outside world, but their time together in Shawshank made them the best of friends. It just proves the old saying — prison is the place to find your best friend. Okay, that’s probably not a saying. For good reason.
Stand By Me
Four boys forge their friendship over finding a dead body. We’ve all been there. I love this movie, and it starred some great childhood actors: River Phoenix, Wil Wheaton, Corey Feldman, and Jerry O’Connell.
Rocky III
This list was originally only 10 movies, but I would have brought great dishonor upon myself had I left off Rocky III. Close call. Anyway, after being enemies, then frenemies, Rocky and Apollo became extremely close friends. As evidenced by the uncomfortable scene in which they cavort on the beach.
I’m not sure if that freeze-frame of Rocky and Apollo Creed could be any more awkward actually. Still, I’ve seen all of these except for Lonesome Dove, might have to check that one out.
No, I didn’t shed any tears after watching Brian’s Song either. Not that I will admit to.