Best Sellers is a comedy about a publisher trying to curb a grumpy author who hasn’t published a book for 50 years. The obnoxious writer is played by Michael Caine, along with Aubrey Plaza appears on the screen – her heroine will try to turn hatred into a profitable collaboration.
Genre Comedy
Director Lina Rossler
Cast Michael Caine (Harris Shaw), Aubrey Plaza (Lucy), Ellen Wong (Rachel), Scott Speedman (Jack), Carey Elvis (Halpern), Veronica Ferres (Drew), etc.
Studios Item 7, Wishing Tree Productions
Year of issue 2021
Websites IMDb
In the filmography of the excellent British actor Michael Caine, about 130 films, moreover, he was nominated for an Oscar every decade since the 1960s. Alas, recently the list of films in which the actor is filmed began to be replenished with second-rate tapes. For example, the failed comedy Dear Dictator or the modern take on Charles Dickens’ novel The Oliver Twist Affair.
By comparison, Michael Caine’s new film isn’t all that bad. It is pleasantly filmed, and there is also no monstrous attempt at rethinking the classics of literature in it. But, alas, there is nothing special about the Bestseller either. It’s just a light film that goes from comedy to sentiment and repeats familiar clichés that have appeared on screen a million times.
In the center of the plot is the heroine Lucy (actress Aubrey Plaza, known for the American sitcom Parks and Recreation), who inherited a prestigious publishing house in New York from her father. Previously, bestsellers were published in it, but now only boring books that neither literary critics nor readers like. A little more, and Lucy will go broke, now is the time to sell the publishing house, while wealthy buyers apply for it. However, the heroine makes one last attempt to save the family business – she just needs to find a famous author, whom no one has seen for many years, and agree with him about the release of a new book. Much to Lucy’s regret, the writer turns out to be an eccentric old man who can only aggravate the situation.
To some extent, Bestseller is a road movie in which two opposites must find a common language. The heroes of the film go on tour in support of the new book, and this, quite expectedly, turns into a sheer disaster. One hero of the film behaves completely unbearable, and the second is trying to fix the damage, which is becoming more and more.
The creators of the picture were aspiring director Lina Rossler and aspiring screenwriter Anthony Griko. As for a first feature film job, Bestseller looks good, except that Michael Caine deserves a more inventive plot, where he won’t be asked to shout curses countless times. It’s a shame that he still has to work with such material.
Comedy tries to mock what the modern reading culture has become. The film’s script also pokes fun at young audiences who are ready to turn the rebellious old man into a social media star, admiring his inappropriate antics. With this, the tape noticeably overdoes it, transforming the book tour into rock concerts, where themed merch with an offensive message shatters at the speed of light.
The film is unlikely to surprise with unexpected plot twists or personal discoveries of the protagonists. We’ve already seen all this somewhere – two characters who hate each other are forced to spend a lot of time together. One of them does not let go of whiskey, falling into scandals, and the second knows perfectly well that he is about to burst into tears.
Of course, viewers will expect this chaos to turn into friendship over time. And the filmmakers are walking the well-trodden paths without inventing a new drama. They use all known clichés, adding a sentimental note to the denouement.
Since this week, “Bestseller” is in the Ukrainian box office, so those wishing to look at Michael Caine as an obnoxious grumpy writer can already choose a session. Except for the end credits, the film only runs for an hour and a half.
Pros: The film was shot nicely; irony over modern reading culture; confrontation between a capricious writer and a publisher
Minuses: Michael Caine deserves more inventive material; clichés that can be easily predicted
Output: Light tape moving from comedy to sentiment.
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