‘Best Sellers’ – Review
Opposites certainly attract in the charming tale of Best Sellers which finds legendary thespian Sir Michael Caine paired with the wonderfully hilarious Aubrey Plaza and the result is a delightfully enjoyable tale.
Lucy Stanbridge has inherited her father’s publishing house, but the ambitious would-be editor has nearly sunk it with failing titles. She discovers she is owed a book by Harris Shaw, a reclusive, cantankerous, booze-addled author who originally put the company on the map decades earlier. In a last-ditch effort to save it, Lucy and Harris release his new book and embark on a tour from hell that changes them both in ways they didn’t expect.
Director Lina Roessler and writer Anthony Grieco build out a simple, but terrific story of two outcasts, one a high-functioning workaholic publisher, who unwittingly is on her last legs, the other a cranky and foul-mouthed recluse, who are forced together and go on a cross-country bar-hopping, literary publishing journey to take one final shot at fame and glory. And the result is thoroughly delightful. This is a film that pulls at your heartstrings and analyzes deep questions of love, life and connection and the chemistry that is shared between Caine and Plaza makes for many compelling scenes as they work to make Cain’s embittered writer Harris Shaw a best seller once again.
When it comes to Sir Michael Caine the only word needed is legend. At age 88 he’s still going strong and has lost none of his class, charm or spirit as a performer. In Best Sellers as the stand-offish, angry and nonchalant author Harris Shaw he absolutely excels. Dragged into a book tour he’s none too pleased about he’s a right royal pain to Plaza’s can-do publisher Lucy Stanbridge. But as the story grows we see the true story behind his foul-mouthed anti-authority antics and it soon becomes clear that he is wrestling with a great many demons. As always, Caine is excellent on-screen and he truly brings out many shades to the cantankerous Shaw and finds the true soul of this character that is sure to resonate with audiences.
Playing off of Caine with her unique sense of deadpan humour is Aubrey Plaza as driven young publisher Lucy Stanbridge who is determined to make a name for herself. Obsessive, out-spoken and extremely high-strung, Lucy is all too excited to have a Harris Shaw manuscript in his hands. But this excitement is soon lost when she has to ferry him across the country on a new book tour. What soon becomes clear is that Lucy is not as courageous or dominant as she appears to be and that she is battling her own insecurities that only Harris can help her overcome. Plaza gives Lucy a true honesty, and she is an extremely real character when portrayed on-screen.
Simply put Best Sellers is a quaint and charming little movie that will speak right to your heart with its simple story of two lonely people who find a connection and win out together in the end. It’s a truly heart-warming watch for the end of the year and you’re certain to come away smiling from it.
Image: Rialto
