Best Seller [Blu-ray]

If you like a slow-burn cop, crime, suspense thriller , this is it!! But from what I've read, this film has a lot of "film noir" elements that led me to classify it so, for myself. Dennehy and Woods are good sparring partners. As others have noted, (not a spoiler) when the good-bad-guy tells the really-bad-guy that they are writing a tell-all book, you know then and there that all hell is gonna break loose. This pivotal point could have happened more subtly, such as a leak from a publicist. But no, it screams " I'm gonna getcha !! ". Unfortunately, the cop has a stupid unmindfull daughter who manages to make herself available for kidnap, gun play, and plot advancement. Afterall, it is fiction and someone has to step in the crap. I enjoyed it free on Amazon Prime. Try it Mikey, you'll like it!

Good acting and writing. Easy to watch

But it’s James Woods as a psycho killer, how bad can it be? There was a time when James Woods was your go-to guy if you needed a psycho killer but couldn’t afford Walken, Malkovich or even Nic Cage, the big-time star who stands beside freeway entrances with a home-made cardboard sign, “Will Act For Money”.James Woods, with the extra intensity that can boost a routine hit man story from meh to maniac. In “Best Seller”, he definitely brought it, even if the story is pretty dumb even for a Larry Cohen screenplay. Woods is paired with the stolid and solid Brian Dennehy. Better physical opposites you could hardly find to make a cop buddy movie. Dennehy’s the cop, needless to say. Woods, the assassin turned buddy who’s just a little too tightly wound even for the hit man business. Even if he is kind of superhuman in the shooting and stabbing and strangling parts of the job. Credulity is strained a little.Or a lot. All of the supporting characters have to staggeringly incompetent and/or stupid to fall victim to Woods’ various manipulations and assaults, but they’re all pretty anonymous anyhow. Even in the pre-internet days when Best Sellers were written on typewriters and only one copy of a manuscript could possibly exist, the plot makes no sense whatever. Despite Dennehy being a greatly respected police, there’s no police presence of any sort at any of the dozen odd murders and shootouts going on. Dennehy also sees nothing wrong with leaving his 16 year old at home alone even as mobsters and hit men threaten and surround and drop veiled and unveiled threats. It is nice to see venture capitalists revealed for what they are, vicious bank robbers in Richard Nixon masks. But haven’t we suspected that all along?For those too young to have develop love and respect for Larry Cohen, the inheritor of Roger Corman’s title of B Movie King, let me run down just a few of his greatest successes: He directed and wrote the horrific mutant homicidal baby trilogy “It’s Alive”, “It’s Alive II: It Lives Again”, and “It’s Alive III: Island of the Alive”. By far the best horrific mutant homicidal baby movies ever made. “Maniac Cop”, which also went on to spawn sequels about, well, a maniacal cop. Who’s undead. And “Q”, aka “Q: The Winged Serpent”.This last combines ancient Aztec human sacrifices at the American Museum of Natural History with the appearance of a gigantic flying reptile which snatches hapless New Yorkers off the streets and carries them off to a really big nest in the art deco attic of the Chrysler tower. How often do you get to see that? With Michael Moriarty doing some of his best acting ever as the sleazy paparazzo who somehow is the only person to notice a sixty foot dragon flying the steel canyons in broad daylight. Moriarty is seriously wonderful in this movie. I recommend it highly.Suffice to say that Larry Cohen, in addition to writing a whole lot of television, some of it quite prestigious, has also wrote and directed a whole lot of inexpensive dreck, of which his “Best Seller” script is a pleasant example. Sure, it’s violent and incoherent and nonsensical. But those things can be virtues if you’re in the right frame of mind. There’s an appreciated bit of very brief gratuitous nudity, lots of gunplay (with the soundtrack turned up to Really Loud) and aimless driving around. But also an exploding Checker cab, some airliner interiors that remind us of just how much we’ve lost, seat-width-wise, big Oldsmobiles and large telephones. Violent things happen constantly for no good reason. While the action is supposed to be set in L.A., Cohen’s deep and abiding love for NYC requires the action to change coasts.Women are, as usual in this sort of thing, present only as underwritten sex objects or nearly mute threat objects. Common sense is rarely employed. Police are incompetent or corrupt. If an exploding car is worth seeing once, it’s worth seeing from multiple angles. Filming is competent without being “good”. Gunshots are ramped up on the soundtrack enough to make one wince. So it’s not good by any stretch. But it’s fast moving and short, and that’s enough. Plus, James Woods!

Best Seller was a minor hit movie in 1988 with the odd pairing of James Woods as the criminal who wants his life of crime immortalized in a novel written by ex-cop and author played by Brian Denehey.You get a buddy genre picture mixed with witty banter and moderate action. It's neither excellent nor mediocre. But it is truly a Best Seller.

This was the second time I have bought this DVD because in the first one the second last chapter of the film wouldn't play on my DVD player, so I bought this one. The same thing happened with this one. It appears that there is a manufacturing defect that Olive Films should correct as soon as possible. I wonder if anyone else has experienced this problem?

Two of my favorite actors, but I really have to say that no one does a better complex character than James Woods. They both make this story work well. And we all like to watch a really dirty bad guy get what he deserves , brought about by a mismatched couple like a cop and a hired killer. I enjoyed watching it.

The writing is kinda weak. Directing is sketchy. BUT. This is for DUDES! Love it. 80's type movie with 80's type ending. Love ❤️ it.

A true late 1980’s movie classic with two of the best actors of their generation — James Wood and Brian Dennehy (a seamless collaboration). If you enjoy action, suspense, and thriller-type movies set in the background of that era, you won’t be disappointed.

Best Seller is an absolute gem of a movie and quintessentially 80s fare. They don't make them like this anymore and it's such a shame. The movie centres on the character of Dennis Meechum (Brian Dennehy) who is a cop and novelist, having been inspired to write the true account of a robbery he was the victim of years earlier. With the death of his wife leaving him to raise his daughter and having now fallen on hard times as he faces writer's block and financial and legal pressure from his publishers for missing deadlines, he is approached by the mysterious Cleeve (James Woods). Cleeve appears to know a lot about Dennis and offers him a once in a lifetime deal that will give him a best seller and solve all of his problems, write a non-fiction book of Cleeve's career as a hitman in order to take down the powerful corporate empire, Kappa International, and its founder David Madlock. The joy of this movie is in that set-up, two people who are on opposite sides of the law yet are put in a situation where they have to work together to take down a larger evil. James Woods is brilliant as usual in exuding that confidence and cocky charm and Brian Dennehy plays those stoic heroic figures so well. You suspect Dennis comes to respect Cleeve as their partnership develops though he can't admit it, with Cleeve always one step ahead. He wants to be loved if not understood as well. The film pulls no punches in showing that Cleeve is not a nice person, with one scene in particular being quite shocking, however he does come to embody the qualities of an anti-hero. However, is Cleeve capable of an unselfish act? I highly recommend this film, which needs a UK blu-ray release as soon as possible.

Excellent crime thriller that continues to build plot throughout. James Woods gives a truly superb performance as a brutal hitman who helps veteran cop-turned author Brian Dennehy get over his writer's block by pushing a story that he believes will be a best seller, his life story aka a hitman's biography. Despite Dennehy's reluctance and disbelief at Wood's tale he reluctantly agrees but with an outlook to arrest all those involved in Wood's world.Grittyly filmed and Woods and Dennehy are on top acting form. Writers also manage to give twists and turns (some of which are expected from the get go) and they also do a wonderful jobs at making Wood's character sympathetic before he turns up his brutality another notch!

A excellent thriller. Both James Woods and Brian Dennehy are outstanding as professional hitman and cop turned author.The hitman is eager to tell his side of the story. Why he chose to be an assassin.What are his moral limitations.James Woods character is frightening at times,but he does have a human side.Both men have a past connection that has to beovercome if they are to work together.Well worth the price of the DVD

A+ speedy delivery. The great actor Brian Dennehy DVD. Just as described. Very pleased. Thank you.

We used to have this on video but lost it somewhere over the years. Some movies appear dated after a while, but not this one, so well acted and with a good story.