Common Sense Media Review
By Jennifer Green
,
based on child development research. How do we rate?
Sex, explicit language in drama tackling mature themes.
Parents Need to Know
Why Age 15+?
Any Positive Content?
Where to Watch
Videos and Photos
The Best You Can
Parent and Kid Reviews
What's the Story?
Cynthia Rand (Kyra Sedgwick) is a urologist married to a much older man, Warren (Judd Hirsch), in THE BEST YOU CAN. The age difference didn't matter much when they first met, and Warren was a powerful player in bringing down Nixon during the Watergate scandal. But now he's losing his memory, and she's unsure what the next stage will bring. When she meets security guard Stan (Kevin Bacon) and takes him on as a patient in her urology practice, the two forge a friendship with sparks that might help them face the future. Stan is grappling with health issues and trying to regain the trust of his grown daughter (Brittany O'Grady), while Cynthia's stepdaughter (Heather Burns) is proposing putting Warren in a care facility.
Is It Any Good?
Writer-director Weithorn has created a believable, gratifying world of flawed characters, even if they sometimes behave or speak in ways that don't entirely ring true. Outside of a handful of overly frenzied moments of dialogue and/or acting, The Best You Can lands as a sincere, slightly offbeat take on aging and relationships. Bacon and Sedgwick are at the film's angsty center, and it's fun to be a fly on the wall as their chemistry sizzles.
The rest of the characters are less developed, appearing mostly in tandem with one of the leads, yet their stories have deeper appeal. Hirsch and O'Grady are excellent as a cognitively diminished former titan with stories left to tell and a talented but anxious wannabe singer with a scene-stealing end-credits performance. Other actors have fewer scenes but put in memorable performances, including Olivia Luccardi as a store clerk with the hots for Bacon and Meera Rogit Kumbhani as Warren's attentive caretaker.
Talk to Your Kids About ...
Families can talk about The Best You Can's depiction of dementia. The character has moments of confusion as well as moments of clarity and sharp recollections of past events. Does the characterization ring true? Where could you find more information?
The characters in the film are flawed—they make or have made decisions that hurt others or even themselves. How does each of them grow or evolve over the course of the movie?
What did you think of the live performance as the closing scene of the film? What mood did this strike?
Movie Details
- On DVD or streaming : June 7, 2025
- Cast : Kevin Bacon , Kyra Sedgwick , Judd Hirsch
- Director : Michael J. Weithorn
- Inclusion Information : Female Movie Actor(s)
- Studio : Netflix
- Genre : Romance
- Topics : Family Stories , Friendship , History
- Run time : 102 minutes
- MPAA rating :
- MPAA explanation : language, sexual references and some drug use
- Last updated : January 29, 2026
Did we miss something on diversity?
Research shows a connection between kids' healthy self-esteem and positive portrayals in media. That's why we've added a new "Diverse Representations" section to our reviews that will be rolling out on an ongoing basis. You can help us help kids by
Suggest an Update
Common Sense Media's unbiased ratings are created by expert reviewers and aren't influenced by the product's creators or by any of our funders, affiliates, or partners.
See how we rate