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Best Seller

Play trailer Poster for Best Seller R 1987 1h 32m Crime Drama Play Trailer Watchlist
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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.

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Best Seller

Critics Reviews

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Scott Tobias The Dissolve 03/30/2015
3/5
Best Seller wouldn't amount to much without Woods' foul, sadistic, gleefully profane edge. Go to Full Review Roger Ebert Chicago Sun-Times 01/01/2000
1/4
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. Go to Full Review David Nusair Reel Film Reviews May 18
3/4
...a deliberately-paced endeavor that benefits from its assortment of agreeable attributes and elements... Go to Full Review Matt Brunson Film Frenzy 07/10/2023
2.5/4
Two compelling lead performances charge this otherwise sloppy crime procedural. Go to Full Review Ángel Fernández-Santos El Pais (Spain) 04/01/2020
Best Seller is an intelligent and intuitive movie. [Full Review in Spanish] Go to Full Review Sean Axmaker Stream on Demand 05/22/2016
[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... Go to Full Review Read all reviews

Audience Reviews

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bob c May 19 Junk. Hard to follow after interesting opening collapses into unfathomable. See more thiago s @Thiagostone May 11 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. See more Jelisije J 01/27/2024 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. See more 01/07/2022 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. See more steve d 07/12/2020 Predictable but really fun. See more 04/11/2019 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. See more Read all reviews
Best Seller

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Cast & Crew

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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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Best Seller

Best Seller (1987) Best Seller (1987) View more photos

Movie Info

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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