Best Seller

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Best Seller

R

Released Sep 25, 1987

1h 32m

Crime

Drama

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Popcornmeter

71%

Tomatometer

17 Reviews

53%

Popcornmeter

1,000+ Ratings

Police detective and successful author Dennis Meechum (Brian Dennehy) has not been able to write since his wife's death and owes an overdue manuscript to the publisher. When corporate hit man Cleve (James Woods) proposes his life story as a book, Meechum suspects he is a fraud. However, Cleve has proof of his hits for executive David Madlock (Paul Shenar). While this convinces Meechum, it also endangers his daughter (Allison Balson), whom Madlock kidnaps to stop the story from coming out.

Scott Tobias

The Dissolve

Best Seller wouldn't amount to much without Woods' foul, sadistic, gleefully profane edge.

Rated: 3/5

Mar 30, 2015

Full Review

Roger Ebert

Chicago Sun-Times

The problem is that Best Seller is light on plot, real light. It doesn't have a compelling story at its center, only the original inspiration of the best-selling cop and the killer who wants to talk.

Rated: 1/4

Jan 1, 2000

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David Nusair

Reel Film Reviews

...a deliberately-paced endeavor that benefits from its assortment of agreeable attributes and elements...

Rated: 3/4

May 18, 2025

Full Review

Matt Brunson

Film Frenzy

Two compelling lead performances charge this otherwise sloppy crime procedural.

Rated: 2.5/4

Jul 10, 2023

Full Review

Ángel Fernández-Santos

El Pais (Spain)

Best Seller is an intelligent and intuitive movie. [Full Review in Spanish]

Apr 1, 2020

Full Review

Sean Axmaker

Stream on Demand

[Larry] Cohen cannily mixes social satire and genre twists in his clever screenplay of an unlikely friendship between two men with more history than they realize...

May 22, 2016

Full Review

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bob c

Junk. Hard to follow after interesting opening collapses into unfathomable.

Rated 0.5 out of 5 stars

05/19/25

Full Review

thiago s

Filme mais ou menos, o roteiro é fraco, as cenas são mais ou menos, o elenco é fraco, e ninguém ajuda a melhorar o filme, a história é fraca, os personagens sao fracos, e o filme deveria ter cenas bem melhores e relevantes para fazer o filme ser bom.

Rated 1 out of 5 stars

05/11/25

Full Review

Jelisije J

James Woods gives one of his better performances with probably the best written character of his career where a hitman sociopath befriends a former cop now writer with the story of a lifetime.

Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars

01/27/24

Full Review

Audience Member

Easy to watch.The chemistry between Woods,and Dennehy carries the film. Not much to complain about here if you like clear crisp plot,and no major surprises to wreck the film.

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

01/17/23

Full Review

steve d

Predictable but really fun.

Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars

03/30/23

Full Review

Audience Member

A taut, darkly comic page-turner that satirizes the buddy cop genre by magnifying the dialectic between the law and criminality, simultaneously bolstered by Woods' compelling gleefully glib performance and hampered by the belated realization that his desperate sadism was hardly a performance whatsoever.

Rated 3 out of 5 stars

01/30/23

Full Review

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John Flynn

Director

James Woods

Cleve

Brian Dennehy

Dennis Meechum

Victoria Tennant

Roberta Gillian

Allison Balson

Holly Meechum

Paul Shenar

David Madlock

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Synopsis

Police detective and successful author Dennis Meechum (Brian Dennehy) has not been able to write since his wife's death and owes an overdue manuscript to the publisher. When corporate hit man Cleve (James Woods) proposes his life story as a book, Meechum suspects he is a fraud. However, Cleve has proof of his hits for executive David Madlock (Paul Shenar). While this convinces Meechum, it also endangers his daughter (Allison Balson), whom Madlock kidnaps to stop the story from coming out.

Director: John Flynn
Producer: Carter DeHaven
Screenwriter: Larry Cohen
Production Co: Hemdale Studios
Rating: R
Genre: Crime, Drama
Original Language: English
Release Date (Theaters): Sep 25, 1987, Limited
Release Date (Streaming): Nov 30, 2016
Box Office (Gross USA): $2.9M
Runtime: 1h 32m

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