Best Seller (1987) Orion/Thriller RT: 95 minutes Rated R (language, some strong violence, nudity, drug references) Director: John Flynn Screenplay: Larry Cohen Music: Jay Ferguson Cinematography: Fred Murphy Release date: October 2, 1987 (US) Starring: Brian Dennehy, James Woods, Victoria Tennant, Paul Shenar, Allison Balson, George Coe, Anne Pitoniak, Kathleen Lloyd, Sully Boyar, Mary Carver, Charles Tyner. Box Office: $4.2 million (US)
Rating: ***
I am a big fan of both leads in Best Seller, a nifty thriller about a hitman who approaches a cop/author about writing his story. The hitman is played by James Woods (Against All Odds) in a departure from his usual hyper-caffeinated crazy guy type. The cop/author is played by Brian Dennehy (F/X) and based loosely on Joseph Wambaugh, the LAPD cop who authored best sellers like The Onion Field and The Choirboys. They’re great together in Best Seller. Unfortunately and inexplicably, it died a quick death at the box office. To this day, I still can’t understand why more people didn’t go to see it. It’s a damn good movie!
Directed by John Flynn (Out for Justice), the story opens in 1972 with the daring robbery of a police evidence storage unit by three men wearing Richard Nixon masks. When it’s over, three cops are dead and one is critically wounded but survives. The surviving cop Dennis Meechum (Dennehy) goes on to write a best seller about the crime. Fifteen years later, he’s having trouble writing a new book. He’s still on the force working a case that almost costs him his life if not for the intervention of a mysterious man in sunglasses who saves his life. The man turns out to be Cleve (Woods), a hitman who works for a shady corporation run by David Madlock (Shenar, Scarface), a seriously bad guy who did a lot of bad stuff to get where he is today. Cleve intends to bring him down by telling his story to Meechum. Naturally, Madlock can’t have that.
As they travel around the country to the scenes of Cleve’s crimes, Meechum struggles with his own ethics. As a cop, he should really be arresting Cleve instead of buddying around with him. As a writer, he wants to hear his story. He needs another successful book and this could be it. As the story progresses, we learn of a previous connection between the two men, one that complicates matters further for Meechum.
I’ll admit that Best Seller isn’t perfect. It has some pacing issues and a rather disappointing ending. I can’t elaborate on the latter except to say a character does something extremely stupid. Even the writer Larry Cohen (Maniac Cop) called Flynn out on it. To its credit, Best Seller is genuinely compelling and, at times, exciting. Dennehy, one of the most likable actors I’ve ever come across, delivers his usual solid performance as Meechum. He’s tough but tender as shown by his relationship with his teenage daughter Holly (Balson, Little House on the Prairie). He’s been raising her on his own since the death of wife. She’s all he has which means her life will be put in jeopardy before movie’s end. All political BS aside, Woods is a phenomenal actor. I’ve liked him since I saw him in Against All Odds. He brings it down a notch to play a cold but charismatic killer. He’s not as vile a character as one would expect. Best Seller co-stars Victoria Tennant (All of Me) as Meechum’s agent Roberta. Her character really serves no purpose other than to be threatened by Woods’ character in one scene.
Cohen proves he’s capable of writing something other than schlock horror movies like It’s Alive and Q. His screenplay is gripping and reasonably intelligent. Flynn stages some great scenes like the one where our two heroes are nearly blown up in a taxi cab. It’s a well-made movie that tries to give audiences something different than the usual nonsense served up at theaters. It never ceases to amaze me that people avoid original movies like Best Seller in favor of recycled garbage like Beverly Hills Cop II which made a ton of money that summer. This is a movie that still doesn’t get the attention it deserves. It has its flaws, no doubt, but it’s still better than a lot of what passes for movie entertainment these days. If for no other reason, see it for the two great performances by its leads.
