The Next Best Thing

The film received a 19% approval rating on Rotten Tomatoes, based on 94 reviews, with an average rating of 3.8/10. The website's critical consensus states: "Story elements clash and acting falls short."[5] On Metacritic, the film has rating of 25 out of 100 based on 31 reviews, indicating "generally unfavorable reviews".[6]

Variety commented, "to a good movie is a well-intentioned one, and at the end of the day, that less-than-compelling consolation prize is about the best thing one can hand this resoundingly adequate Advanced Family Values comedy-drama".[2] Roger Ebert gave the film one star out of four, stating: "The Next Best Thing is a garage sale of gay issues, harnessed to a plot as exhausted as a junkman's horse."[7]

The film opened at number two at the North American box office, making USD$5,870,387, behind The Whole Nine Yards. The film grossed $14,990,582 in the U.S. and $24,362,772 worldwide on a $25 million budget.[1]

In 2020, Screen Rant ranked it among the best Madonna movie roles.[11] CNN film critic, Paul Clinton, named The Next Best Thing one of the Top 10 worst movies of 2000.[12]

Professional ratings

Review scores
Source	Rating
AllMusic	[19]
Baltimore Sun	[20]
Calgary Herald	[21]
Entertainment Weekly	B+[16]
Indiana Gazette	B[22]
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette	[23]
Portland Press Herald	B+[14]
The San Diego Union-Tribune	[24]
Vancouver Sun	[15]
Windsor Star	[25]

The soundtrack received generally positive feedback from music journalists. Various reviewers praised Madonna's hand-pick selection and Madonna's songs. Portland Press Herald editor Michael Histen called it a "strong collection" and complimented the release as a "cohesive collection, and one of the better soundtracks in quite some time".[14] The Washington Post's Richard Harrington, described "Most of this soundtrack has a cool luster to it".[26] Pittsburgh Post-Gazette was overall positive towards the sountrack, concluding "It's not great, but it's the next best thing".[23] Kerry Gold, from Vancouver Sun, similarly described the album as "the next best thing to an excellent soundtrack".[15]

Other reviewers praised soundtrack's dance-oriented songs. According to Billboard, the album is a "clubber's dream",[18] and a "pop/dance punter's dream" that have "groovy mix of global beats" and "intertwines the old with the new".[27] New York Daily News made similar remarks, complimenting the music style feaured on the soundtrack, describing the album as "nouvelle electronica", "a revolutionary mix of woozy electronics and retro-lounge sounds".[28] Writing for The Baltimore Sun, J. D. Considine considered "is the next best thing to a new Madonna album", further describing "anyone who was a fan of her last album, 1998's Ray of Light" will find much to like about The Next Best Thing.[20] J. D. Considine complimented "Time Stood Still" as "far more convincing" describing it as "mournful, Latin-tinged ballad".[20] Jim Farber, in his review for Orlando Sentinel overall praised the soundtrack, and also complimented "Time Stood Still" saying "her best ballad since 'Take a Bow'; vocally, Madonna "has never sounded more beautiful than on her other song".[29] In a mixed response, Howard Cohen from the Miami Herald commented "American Pie" is the "best thing" on the album while "the rest is the usual soundtrack grab-bag of found oldies".[30] Kevin C. Johnson, from St. Louis Post-Dispatch was overall critical calling the soundtrack a "horrific material".[31] Courier News referred the soundtrack is "as impersonal as the film's storyline".[32]

The Next Best Thing debuted and peaked at number 34 on the US Billboard 200 albums chart,[33] staying at least 8 weeks on the chart.[34] Two months after its release, in April 2000, the album had sold over 155,000 copies in the US according to Nielsen SoundScan.[35] The album also charted in Austria, Germany and elsewhere. The song "American Pie" climbed to the top of charts in the UK, Italy, Australia, Germany, and other territories. "Time Stood Still" also reached the number 3 in Czech Republic.[36]

The soundtrack album helped boost US sales for British band Olive's album, Extra Virgin (1996).[35] Billboard's Michael Paoletta commented, the band "stirred much interest of its sophomore album".[37] "American Pie" also revived "interest in [Don] McLean's magnum opus" according to publications such as Broadcast Music, Inc. (BMI),[38] and writer Nat Shapiro.[39] Fred Bronson, chart columinist of Billboard, noted Madonna was the first artist to have a number-one song of an "American Pie" cover in the UK. It also extended Madonna's record of most-number one singles in the UK by a female artist; at that time, double that Whitney Houston and Kylie Minogue, with four each.[40]