Best On-Screen Buddies!

In celebration of the UK's national best friend day today, I present to you just a short collection of film's greatest duos. Whilst for some of these examples it certainly took a long time for them to become best friends, every double act here worked off of each other in their respective film(s) and the conflicts in their individuated characters have led to some outrageously hilarious moments. Companionships are so special and personal that through the medium of film even such partnerships can be between man and animal, conveyed for instance comedically in Any Which Way But Loose and Any Which Way You Can with Clint Eastwood's character Philo Beddoe and Clyde the orangutan (pictured above).

Firstly, we come to White Men Can't Jump, with the partnership in discussion being Woody Harrelson and Wesley Snipes acting as Billy Hoyle and Sidney Deane. The sensational, awe-inspiring creation of these characters by writer Ron Shelton, mixed with the overt, but somewhat turbulent, chemistry between Harrelson and Snipes results in a mesmirising double act comprising of Deane's trash-talking and ripostes and Hoyle's tragic narrative.

Classic quotations:

-Sidney Deane: Billy, I have four words for you: "listen to the woman". Billy Hoyle: What the hell does that mean, "listen to the woman"? I TRIED to listen to the woman and you're the one who talked me out of it. Sidney Deane: Wait a minute. I didn't talk you out of anything. I presented you with an option and you took it.

-Billy Hoyle: What, you still throwing up bricks? What is this, a Masons convention? Wha... clank, clank! I need, like, a welding torch to play in this league! I got an idea... let's just stop right now and gather up all these bricks and let's build a shelter for the homeless so maybe your mother will have a place to live!

The second on the list is perhaps the least comedic, but the most heartfelt and genuine friendship that has ever graced the screens. Creations of J. R. R. Tolkien, Frodo Baggins and Samwise Gamgee appeared with their fellow hobbits Peregrin Took and Meriadoc Brandybuck (Pippin and Merry in the Lord of the Rings trilogy and of course Tolkien's novels. It is Frodo and Sam's nigh-impossible pilgrimage to Mount Doom, concluding in The Return of the King, that depicts this stunning companionship to audiences, which is then perpetuated by the incredible character and portrayal of the creature Gollum/ Smeagle (Andy Serkis). In fact, it's arguable that Samwise is perhaps a 'better' character than his heroic friend who's centre of the narrative, due to his unwavering loyalty and at-times-almost-funny courage. Plus there's always the fact that Frodo leaves him at Bagend at the end of the film to go with the elves.

Classic quotations:

Frodo: Go back, Sam. I'm going to Mordor alone.

Sam: Of course you are. And I'm coming with you.

[following Gollum down the path] Sam: I wonder if we'll ever be put into songs or tales. Frodo: [turns around] What? Sam: I wonder if people will ever say, 'Let's hear about Frodo and the Ring.' And they'll say 'Yes, that's one of my favorite stories. Frodo was really courageous, wasn't he, Dad?' 'Yes, my boy, the most famousest of hobbits. And that's saying a lot.' Frodo: [continue walking] You've left out one of the chief characters - Samwise the Brave. I want to hear more about Sam. [stops and turns to Sam] Frodo: Frodo wouldn't have got far without Sam. Sam: Now Mr. Frodo, you shouldn't make fun; I was being serious. Frodo: So was I. [they continue to walk] Sam: Samwise the Brave...

Grumpy Old Men and Grumpier Old Men stars Jack Lemmon and Walter Matthau have featured in TEN movies together (five before these two), thus it is no wonder that on-screen they had such chemistry, for they already had a companionship and rapport. Whilst the two films were largely driven not by narrative but by the pair's fantastic acting and understanding alongside the likes of Ann-Margret, Burgess Meredith, Kevin Pollak and Sophia Loren, the outcome is that audiences can witness one of the funniest and well-written set of exchanges between two embittered, grizzly old rivals.

The Rush Hour trilogy features protagonists Chief Yan Naing Lee and Detective James Carter, played by martial-artist-turned-actor Jackie Chan and comedian Chris Tucker respectively, and is largely successful due to the stark contrasts in character between the two. It is Tucker's character's playfulness on-screen, juxtaposed with Chan's seriousness, that creates laugh-out-loud comedy for all audiences. Refreshingly, the film does not rely totally on the partnership at its crux, as the narrative and situations that Lee and Carter find themselves in create some comedic moments, which include when the two attempt to fight off 7ft 9" basketball giant Sun Mingming in his dojo and the interplay between the pair and their French-Asian hostage. The trilogy has been so successful, that 17 years after the original film, Rush Hour 4 is being discussed and planned.

Classic quotations:

Master Yu: May I help you?

Detective James Carter: We'll be asking the questions old man. Who are you?

Master Yu: Yu.

Detective James Carter: No, not me. You.

Master Yu: Yes, I'm Yu.

Detective James Carter: Just answer the damn question! Who are you?

Master Yu: I have told you!

Detective James Carter: Are you deaf?

Master Yu: No. Yu is blind.

Detective James Carter: I'm not blind. You blind.

Master Yu: That is what I just said.

Detective James Carter: You just said what?

Master Yu: I did not say what, I said Yu.

Detective James Carter: That's what I'm asking you.

Master Yu: And Yu was answering.

Detective James Carter: Shut up!

Detective James Carter: You!

Master Yu: Yes?

Detective James Carter: Not you. Him! What's your name?

Mi: Mi.

Detective James Carter: Yes, you.

Mi: I'm Mi.

Master Yu: He's Mi and I'm Yu.

Detective James Carter: And I'm about to whoop your old ass man because I am sick of playing games! You, me? Everybody's ass around here!

Detective James Carter: Well, for your information, I'm part Chinese now. That's right, Lee. For the last three years, I have studied the ancient teachings of Buddha, earning two black belts in Wu Shu martial arts, spending every afternoon the Hong Kong Massage parlor. I'm half Chinese, baby!

Chief Inspector Lee: If you're half Chinese, I'm half black. I'm your brother and I'm fly. You down with that, Snoopy? That's dope, innit?

Detective James Carter: Sorry, Lee. You can't be black. There's a height requirement.

Sister Agnes: He says your both making a big mistake,that one day youll beg for mercy, he also said...

Chief Inspector Lee: What? Oh please sister we have to know.

Detective James Carter: There's lives at stake.

Sister Agnes: Well he used the N word

Detective James Carter: What? The N word you tell this little mother...

Chief Inspector Lee: Carter, shes a nun.

Detective James Carter: Sister you tell this piece of S word, that I will personally F word him up.

French Assassin, Sister Agnes: [speaks french to assassin]

[speaks french to sister Agnes]

Detective James Carter: Did he say negro?

Sister Agnes: He used the N word, but this time he mentioned your grandmother.

Detective James Carter: You tell him that his mama's an H.

Chief Inspector Lee: Carter I believe whore is spelled with an W.

Detective James Carter: Right W, and his sister's a W and his grandmama is a two bit W who makes double cause she got no teeth you tell him I said that.

French Assassin, Sister Agnes: [speaks french to assassin]

[speaks french to Sister Agnes]

Chief Inspector Lee: Did he say it again?

Sister Agnes: No, this time he called this gentleman a word that means cat and another word that rhymes with maggot.

Chief Inspector Lee: What? Well you can tell him hes a A.W.

Detective James Carter: Ugh, Lee hole is spelled with an H.

Sister Agnes: I have a dictionary upstairs.

Chief Inspector Lee: Just call him an asshole!

Sister Agnes: [assassin speaks french] He says you been both marked for death like Han and the girl.

Thelma & Louise make this list largely due to the fact that these two titular characters couldn't be more different. Like so many other duos here however, that is exactly what makes them memorable. Like Billy Hoyle and Sidney Deane of White Men Can't Jump and Lee and Carter from Rush Hour, it is their individuated characters that drive the narrative and that provide the greatest moments in the film, with the situations they are placed in contributing to the drama and gripping aspects in this movie. Both Geena Davis (Thelma) and Susan Sarandon (Louise) were nominated for the 1991 Academy Award for Best Actress, whilst the film was nominated for four others and won Best Screenplay. Its feminist undertones equally give this film added fire and provides incredible scenes featuring superb acting from the two female leads plus Harvey Keitel, Michael Madsen, Christopher McDonald and also a youthful Brad Pitt.

Singin' In The Rain, if you haven't gathered from my other blog articles, is my favourite film of all time. Being a film enthusiast, I have watched an immeasurable number of films, many terrible, some good but even fewer greats. This musical is the very pinnacle of that pyramid, and even though it was released in 1952, the sensational singing, dancing and acting qualified it for countless awards and nominations, which include Donald O'Connor receiving a Golden Globe, Jean Hagen receiving an Academy Award nomination, it becoming Rotten Tomatoes 14th highest rated film with 100%, it being #1 in the American Film Institute's Best Musical Movies and the film achieving 8th on Empire's 500 Greatest Movies Of All Time. What is so beautiful about this movie, deemed 'culturally, historically or aesthetically significant' by the US Library of Congress for the National Film Registry and selected for preservation (in the first 25 films for this to happen with (in 1989)), is Gene Kelly (as Don Lockwood and Donald O'Connor's (Cosmo Brown) chemistry and pure magnetism when together.

Favourite Scene: the character of Cosmo performing "Make 'Em Laugh" to his buddy Don.

Classic quotations:

Don Lockwood: Cosmo, call me a cab.

Cosmo Brown: OK, you're a cab.

(Lina Lamont: What do they think I am? Dumb or something? Why, I make more money than - than - than Calvin Coolidge! Put together! - nominated for the AFI's 100 Years... 100 Movie Quotes)

Notable Mentions:

The Bad Boys duology (Will Smith and Martin Lawrence)

The Lethal Weapon tetralogy (Mel Gibson and Danny Glover)

Cast Away (Tom Hanks and Wilson the volleyball)

Starsky & Hutch (Ben Stiller and Owen Wilson respectively)

Laurel & Hardy (Stan Laurel and Oliver Hardy)