Best Sellers Review – Entertaining, Solid Story and Character Driven Performance

Details

Category: Film

Published on Thursday, 16 September 2021 11:33

Written by Janet Walker

Best Sellers, from Screen Media, presents the story of an argumentative, difficult lost soul, an celebrated novelist, and a hopeful, young publishing heiress, who is facing the hard choice of selling the house her father built.

The film begins with a cantankerous writer, played by Sir Michael Caine, completing a project while constantly being interrupted by the telephone. With each letter he types, he intermittently picks up the phone screaming British slang obscenities, and finally in a moment of uncontrollable angst we see the phone flying through the window.

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Contrasting this we see a female jogger, running through Manhattan and pausing in front of a bookstore window as the clerk is pulling down the window display. Shortly we arrive at the offices of Standbridge Publishing, one of the old school independent publishing houses still left in New York City, which is now teetering on the brink of insolvency.

Sitting behind the Chairman’s desk, Lucy Standbridge, played Aubrey Plaza, is running through the checklist of possible authors with her dedicated assistant, Rachel, played by Ellen Wong, when the two discover she is owed a book by Harris Shaw, played by Michael Caine, who put the company on the map decades earlier when it was run by her father.

After the two review Shaw’s contract, they approach the reclusive author and with the strength of entitlement Lucy explains the nuances of the contract, to which Shaw, in his most belligerent raises a shotgun, pointing at the two, who, as expected, run for the door.

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With the wolves circling, Lucy is listening as her in-house counsel Phil Rosen, played by Frank Schorpion, and Jack Sinclair, played by Scott Speedman, explain why selling the house now is the best deal for her and allows her to maintain her father’s legacy.  Just as she raises the pen to the paper, Harris Shaw walks in and tosses a manuscript on the desk.

Suddenly an infusion of life surges through Lucy as hope hidden in possibility pushes her past this momentary dark space. With the manuscript in hand, she explains the finer points of the contract which include a book tour or relinquishing all editorial control.

Lucy and Harris release his new book and embark on a book tour from hell. Harris is the epitome of the the writer persona, an alcoholic, smoking, drinking, bad mannered, a has been celebrity who because he was forced to honor his contract will make the publisher regret the imposition needed to push the book sales.

With Lucy’s strong public relations and marketing skills and a mix of social media, which celebrates the inane and finds a community for absurdity, the sales begin to rise. Suddenly, the two seem to have hit a stride until an unexpected telephone call disrupts the momentum.

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It is at this point that a hidden truth that derailed two men surfaces and the closet of the past is opened and what was once buried by the greed and ambition, is now under full light.

Best Sellers provides a solid story and fuels strong character driven performances. It is entertaining, fast moving, with emotional moments throughout. Sir Michael Caine shines in this role as a cantankerous, angry, lost soul. Enjoyable, Best Sellers opens in theaters and on demand Friday, September 17, 2021. See it.

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Country: USA.

Release Date: September 17, 2021.

Runtime: 100 Minutes.

Directed by: Lina Roessler.

Written by: Anthony Greico.

Produced by: Jonatham Vanger, Petr Jakl, Wayne Marc Godfrey, Pierre Even, Cassian Elwes, Arielle Elwes.

Cast: Sir Michael Caine, Aubrey Plaza, Ellen Wong, Scott Speedman, Cary Elwes.