Best Friends

Richard and Paula decide to wed without informing anyone and have a quiet ceremony at a Los Angeles marriage bureau. They keep the marriage intention secret so as not to cause a fuss. The newlyweds then plan a cross-country train trip to share the news with their East Coast families.

After the wedding, Richard and Paula embark on a cross-country train journey to inform their parents back East. They hope the trip will double as a honeymoon while they reveal their secret marriage. They navigate adjustments to their relationship as they travel.

The first stop is Buffalo, New York, where Paula's parents expect old-fashioned custom. They are told they must sleep in separate beds due to tradition, and the brutal winter compounds Paula's discomfort. Richard grows frustrated by the chilly reception and being treated like a child.

The couple travels to Virginia to visit Richard's parents in a high-rise condo where no one ever opens a window. Paula experiences panic and longs for fresh air, while the parents lavishly assume the couple are engaged and are shocked to learn they are already married. The mood shifts from celebration to complication as the truth sinks in.

Larry Weissman, the producer, shows up desperate for pages of a rewrite. Paula wants to cut the trip short and return to California, but Richard persuades her to stay until the end of the week. The tension between creative ambitions and personal restlessness ramps up.

The Babsons host a restaurant party to celebrate the newlyweds, drawing comments from guests that unsettle Paula. Feeling overwhelmed, she turns to Valium to cope with mounting stress. The party's frayed atmosphere pushes her further toward emotional instability.

Paula's struggle culminates in an accidental Valium overdose during the social pressures of the trip, landing her in the hospital. Richard is shaken as the couple's personal and professional facade begins to crumble. They return from the hospital more distant than ever.

Back in California, Paula and Richard are barely speaking and their personal and professional partnership is strained. The stress of the trip lingers, coloring how they view each other and their work. The distance between them threatens to derail both their marriage and their careers.

Larry Weissman locks the couple in a room to force them to work, but the writers end up bickering and producing little progress. The tense environment exposes the fragility of their collaboration and marriage. They clash, yet the pressure gradually pushes them toward a needed confrontation.

Finally they talk through their issues, admit that marriage might not have been ideal, and finish the script rewrite. They walk off together into a sunset, only to discover it's a Hollywood prop, underscoring the meta-commentary of their lives. The ending leaves their future open, with a sense that art and life blur together.