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      Best Seller

      R Released Sep 25, 1987 1 hr. 32 min. Crime Drama List
      69% 16 Reviews Tomatometer 55% 1,000+ Ratings Audience Score 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. Read More Read Less

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      Audience Reviews

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      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 An excellent movie. Dennehy and Woods are fantastic in their roles and there interactions together are absolutely believable and compelling. While the story line is relatively basic, that is what leads to its believably which helps to maintain the focus on the interaction between the two lead characters. Rated 4.5 out of 5 stars 01/24/23 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 Audience Member Worth it to watch Woods and Dennehy. Woods is great in the role, and his relationship with Dennehy makes the film. Rated 4 out of 5 stars 02/02/23 Full Review Read all reviews Post a rating

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      Best Seller

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      Critics Reviews

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      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 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 Seanax.com [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 Dennis Schwartz Dennis Schwartz Movie Reviews Ingenious big city cop film. Rated: B Apr 7, 2016 Full Review Read all reviews

      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
      Executive Producer
      John Daly, Derek Gibson
      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
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