A cranky, retired author reluctantly embarks on a final book tour to help out a young publisher.... (Full plot summary below)
Enjoy FREE movies and series with your Prime (USA) subscription or when you start a 30-day free trial!
A cranky, retired author reluctantly embarks on a final book tour to help out a young publisher.
Leave your thoughts about Best Sellers.
| VarietyGuy LodgeIts portrait of an easy-target industry goes soft just when it needs a little added spine, while the film’s abrupt tonal transitions from jaunty comedy to cross-generational weepie occasionally come at the expense of the characters’ own credibility. But it’s the overarching niceness of “Best Sellers” that sees it through. |
| Original-CinJim SlotekIts script is undercooked and veers in random directions from its simple premise. But it has a heart, and two likeable leads who work well together. |
| The TelegraphTim RobeyAs an undemanding pas de deux, it’s sweet enough. |
| SlashfilmHoai-Tran BuiThough you can see its twists coming from a mile away, Caine and Plaza's oddball dynamic and Roessler's visually stimulating direction makes "Best Sellers" a movie that's diverting enough to cozy up with. |
| The Globe and Mail (Toronto)Marsha LedermanClichés abound and you think you know where this is going. But in her feature debut, Canadian director Lina Roessler manages some genuine surprises. Caine is wonderful, Plaza is charming. The film has its moments, but one for the books this ain’t. |
| Paste MagazineAndrew CrumpMost of Best Sellers’ problems have to do with structure instead of performance, so there’s not much that Plaza and Caine can do. They’re stymied by the writing and constricted by the direction. |
| The Film StageJared MobarakIts mere existence is a win, though. As is its ability to galvanize Lucy and Shaw’s relationship to help steer them through a third act that resonates on a frequency the rest couldn’t approach. It’s a testament to Plaza and Caine’s performances, too, since they are finally able to shake free of the hyperbolic hamming and prove why they were cast in the first place. |
| Movie NationRoger MooreYou’d have to go pretty far wrong to get me to pan anything pairing up Plaza with Caine, and Best Sellers tries its best, at times. But Caine does a grand grump, and Plaza reaches beyond her repertoire of eviscerating, man-eating side-eyes. They make this page-turner worth sticking with until the bittersweet end, and that’s enough. |
| San Francisco ChronicleChris VognarIt’s an innocuous and cuddly film, even with Caine holding forth. It’s hard to tell if he transcends the role as written, or if he merely seized on the one shred of the screenplay worth showcasing. In any case, Caine brings his own shine to this rather dull affair, and shows again that he’s not ready to go gentle into that good night. |
| The Hollywood ReporterFrank ScheckThat Best Sellers works to the extent that it does is a testament to Caine’s ultra-professionalism — he truly is a treasure who can make any film worth watching — and Plaza’s canny underplaying. They work together so well, you wish they were in a better movie. |
