Review:
"Best Sellers"
Release Date: Sept. 17, 2021
Rating: Unrated Running Time: 101 minutes Best Sellers does not represent the first time a drunken, disaffected intellectual played by Michael Caine clashes with and then takes under his wing a young woman desperate to come into her own. Caine earned an Oscar nomination as an Open University English professor who mentors Julie Walter’s untested student in 1983’s Educating Rita. But Best Sellers is more than a spiritual remake of Educating Rita. This is a sharply written, feistily told examination of a seemingly toxic relationship between unequals that gradually develops into something so much more. Plus, Caine gets to bellow “Bullshite” every few minutes for good reason, and you can’t get better than that. In place of Walters is Aubrey Plaza as Lucy Stanbridge, a book publisher forced to put the family business up for sale after enduring a massive flop. Then Lucy learns Harris Shaw (Caine), the most famous and celebrated author discovered by her highly influential father, still owes the publisher the book he contracted to write 40 years earlier. The cantankerous Shaw reluctantly hands over the manuscript to his second novel, "The Future is X-Rated," but kicks up a fuss when forced to go on a book tour with Lucy. But Lucy has no choice but to put her faith in a bitter has-been who dismisses her as a hack and the beneficiary of nepotism. Director Lina Roessler and screenwriter Anthony Grieco initially present Shaw as a boorish relic intent on making life hell for Lucy, even if it means sabotaging his book sales. And Caine plays up Shaw’s belligerence with relish and seethes with both anger and delight as he cuts down to size the object of Shaw's contempt. Plaza, of course, gives as good as she gets. While she never shies away from presenting Lucy’s fears and vulnerabilities to the audience, Plaza locks horns with Caine with an intense confidence that makes their antagonistic relationship a pleasure to watch unravel in so many different ways. But Shaw is more than a disagreeable, cynical cliché of a literary genius four decades past his prime. And Lucy is more than a willing punching bag Shaw derisively calls “Silver Spoon.” Roessler and Grieco gradually bring Lucy and Shaw together in revealing ways, most notably through their relationship with Lucy’s father. They effectively employ social media not just as a means to explore and to close the generation gap between author and publisher but to mine well-observed humor from Shaw unexpectedly becoming a viral sensation. Yes, Shaw's fondness of declaring everything he distains as “Bullshite” becomes a popular hashtag. (Which is only appropriate given his new book is titled “The Future is X-Rated.”) Roessler and Grieco affirm what we already know, that it is now less about promoting a certain form of art—film, music, literature—than creating a lifestyle brand. Despite the constant arguing between two headstrong individuals, Roessler never allows Best Sellers to become an exercise in cruelty. She and Grieco use what is described as “a freak show” of a book tour to see if and how anger, frustration, and hard truths can lead to mutual respect and collaboration. The latter scenes of Lucy and Shaw together are informed with a rich poignancy that is earned the hard way. Ultimately, Best Sellers is about taking the smallest of moral victories and spinning it into a meaningful exchange of ideas. “Sometimes a man has to dare to be ambitious,” Shaw tells Lucy. It is not a criticism of Lucy. Her ambition is never in question. But Best Sellers is about finding a way to transform ambition into success. And sometimes it requires taking the fight to those who oppose you the most. Robert Sims Aired: Sept. 16, 2021 Web sites: https://bestsellersmovie.com https://www.facebook.com/Best-Sellers-Movie-101194355619056/ |
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