Best Sellers

I have just finished watching this movie, and anything with Michael Caine in his winter years is worth seeing, his characters played over the decades has appealed to audiences across generations.

I didn't honestly feel this was time lost and enjoyed his latest performance, and all the character actors in the movie didn't disappoint,there have been several publisher movies over the past decades,with different themes,with the American ideal, all about the bucks, this particular work had that varnish sprinkled with pathos and humor.

Writers, novel writers certainly, should rise up against their movie cliché. In movies, painters and musicians are presented as sociable, attractive even, characters, but book writers are alcoholic misanthropes whose only company are cats.

This film takes this and similar tropes and applies the movie cliché of incompatible partners/opposites coming to like each other as well as the old man and young woman dichotomy, both of whom are on their uppers, albeit in different ways. Formulas are proven and so we are set on our way.

While the premise is established, the journey, literally, does offer some fresher angles, at least in terms of the publishing business. The blunt speech, calling cant for what it is, the pervasiveness of social media and celebrity, the shallowness of our culture, are done comically and with effect. How the calque curse word took hold is a mystery.

The pacing and editing keep things going well as we move from one plot point to the next and although it's not necessarily new material, the energy does not flag. The photography and locations are striking, somber and moody, wintry light which adds a more realistic edge to the narrative.

But the reason to stay with this story are the performances. Casting can elevate a film even if the other aspects are a little staid and that's what is on show here. Caine and Plaza hold it together as both leads take us through the journey where their antagonism turns to friendship. It's sentimental, just like the movie poster of Caine grinning.

They are supported with a good team of actors too and while the humans did their job admirably, the cat deserves an award for a memorable and nuanced cameo performance; perhaps even Best Supporting Actor would be fitting, if species rules are not still enforced.

On the surface, the storyline of "Best Sellers" seems simple enough. Young book editor Lucy Stanbridge (Aubrey Plaza), who recently inherited Stanbridge Publishing from her father, attracts famous but long-silent author Harris Shaw (Michael Caine) back into business after he unexpectedly has a new novel to offer. They set out on a publicity road tour in and around Boston and New York, and lots is learned about both of them, leading up to a revelatory finish. By turns it's poignant, wry, funny, or all three at once. It's a 'little' film, very human-centered, and really well done. Michael Caine is predictably excellent, so it turns out that the success of the film depends a lot on Aubrey Plaza's acting (is he going to steal every scene, or can she stand up to him?) since she's probably on screen the most of all. Turns out she does pretty well, and it's not just him that we end up interested in.

The character-driven progress of the story is all about how Lucy tries to manage Harris through her publisher's agenda of getting the new book publicized versus his stubborn resistance ('crusty old codger' doesn't say the half of it). The script leaves a lot of questions hanging in the air. Why is Harris so cranky and at times downright mean to her, his own agent? Why is he an apparently self-loathing drunk and why hasn't he written anything in 40 years? What about her father, who was Harris's editor long ago? Is the new book going to take off, or her company going to go under? All these questions get clever and complete answers, and when they do, the story suddenly starts to cut a lot deeper and gain many new layers. I thought, though, a bit too much of the Reveal got packed into the last 20 minutes or so of Act 3. The long central Act 2 is all about the road trip, which is always teetering hilariously on the brink of collapse. Lucy is constantly driven to distraction, and Harris constantly looks so rumpled and dissolute that you wonder if Michael Caine himself is really that frail; is it all an act?

There's a quietly brilliant set of scenes where Lucy gets fed up with Harris's recalcitrance and recruits fans to do readings from his new book instead, which then go viral on the Web. And another where devoted readers ceremonially burn the book after reading it (which makes pefect sense in context -- you have to see it).

And the ending -- also very quietly done, but Wow. Everything is going to be all right. And it's satisfying, not just something that was pulled in out of left field. It makes perfect sense knowing what we know by then about Harris and his hidden history. What's an author going to do for 40 years except write?

Best Sellers won't disappoint much people. There's a captivating story, sometimes sentimental, sometimes funny, and some good actors. For the funny parts it was mostly due to the character of Ellen Wong, for the sentimental parts the difficult relarionship between Michael Caine and Aubrey Plaza. Ellen Wong had a smaller part but was funny. Michael Caine (already 88 years old) still has it. Audrey Plaza in a slightly different role that we're normally used of did okay. I can't say I was bored by this movie, on the contrary it's an engaging story easy to follow. Best Sellers isn't a fast paced action movie, it's rather slow, a lot of conversations, but they all add something to the emotional story.

Michael Caine makes it all seem so natural and beautiful. And Plaza is like the cherry on top, she's always at her best.