The Next Best Thing: Synopsis

Abbie (Madonna) and Robert (Rupert Everett) are best friends with so much in common - a joyful, unconventional approach to life; quick wit and intelligence; an endearing impulsiveness...and miserable luck in love. They would make the perfect couple, but one thing prevents them from looking to each other for romance - Robert is gay. A day comes, however, when too many cocktails and a twist of fate takes them to a new level of intimacy... and turns them into parents. A whole new world has opened up for them, and for the sake of Sam, their child (played by newcomer Malcolm Stumpf), Abbie and Robert decide to live together as a family. Theirs may not be the perfect family - but it is the next best thing.

"The Next Best Thing" stars Rupert Everett and Madonna, and is directed by Academy Award winner John Schlesinger from a screenplay by Thomas Ropelewski. The film also stars Benjamin Bratt, Michael Vartan, Josef Sommer, Malcolm Stumpf, Neil Patrick Harris and Lynn Redgrave