A character-driven dramedy about a struggling publisher who convinces her reclusive author to go on a book tour, Best Sellers is boosted by two strong leads, even if it takes until the last act to fully invest in them.
My 20-year-old son and I each discovered Aubrey Plaza in a different way. I first met her in the 2012 movie Safety Not Guaranteed, and he found her in Parks and Recreation. He is at university right now, so we text a lot, and in the middle of my watching this movie, he texted me about “Aubrey Plaza my beloved,” who was in the White Lotus season he was watching. She continues to connect us.
Best Sellers is about Lucy, a struggling owner of a publishing firm left to her by her father. With almost no options other than to sell, she discovers that reclusive writer Harris Shaw still owes the firm a book. Hunting him down and getting him to agree to a book tour, the pair travels from motel to motel, booking gigs and trying to sell his new book.
This is a low-key film that is almost entirely performance-centered. Aubrey Plaza and Michael Caine play the spicy Lucy and the grumpy Harris Shaw, respectively, and their chemistry grows both on screen and as characters.
The first two acts of the film are fine, if not a little monotonous in tone. She is desperate, and he is a cantankerous drunk, a dynamic that plays out over and over. Once Lucy gets an idea for a new way to promote the book, the movie begins to open up. But it’s really in the last act, where you finally begin to understand the characters past their flawed facades, that you dial in.
The questions in this film are subtle, and it took me until the final act to really understand them. What does a legacy look like, and who do you trust with it? Is it worth telling your whole story when the world sees what it sees? What does the world of books look like in a social media age where everyone has the attention span of a gnat?
If I’m being completely honest, the beginning of this film really didn’t strike me. I was waiting for it to become something more, and by the halfway point, when it didn’t, I had resigned myself to it being just one of those films. Cute, but surface-level with some mildly amusing moments. But the last act truly touched me. I was just as surprised as anyone when I found myself crying.
So when you watch Best Sellers, be patient. It is an uneven film that doesn’t make any leaps right away, but if you keep going, I think you’ll find something you like. Plus, Aubrey Plaza, am I right? (Michael Caine too!)
Runtime: 102 minutes
Motion Picture Rating: NR
Languages Spoken In The Film: English
Should You Watch It? Yes
Did I Cry? Yep, I did
My Rating: 3/5 Stars
Available: Free for Amazon Prime members, to rent on Prime Video, or may be available for free on other streaming platforms
My 20-year-old son and I each discovered Aubrey Plaza in a different way. I first met her in the 2012 movie Safety Not Guaranteed, and he found her in Parks and Recreation. He is at university right now, so we text a lot, and in the middle of my watching this movie, he texted me about “Aubrey Plaza my beloved,” who was in the White Lotus season he was watching. She continues to connect us.
