The Best Offer

Set in Italy but filmed in English, "The Best Offer" is a highly unusual and unusually interesting tale of two lost and hurting souls reaching out to one another for meaning and salvation. Or at least that's what it wants you to THINK it's about. What it's ACTUALLY about may be something else again. A self-described "old man incapable of love," the allegorically named Virgil Oldman (Geoffrey Rush) has kept pretty much the entire world - women included - at arm's-length for his entire life. He's a renowned, if not entirely scrupulous, art appraiser and auctioneer who has his entire mode of existence turned upside down when he meets a mysterious young woman named Claire (Silvia Hoeks) who pleads with him to come appraise the belongings in her home upon the death of her wealthy parents. The problem is that Claire, who has been a recluse since the age of 16, seems to be suffering from a severe case of Agoraphobia and will speak with Virgil only through a wall in the house. Dismissive, even irritated at first, Virgil soon becomes obsessed with the faceless, disembodied voice that floats to him through the dusky halls of a lonely villa. Virgil is so emotionally cut off from the world around him that, despite the fact that he is physically able to come and go, he is just as much a prisoner of his life as Claire is of her disease and of the decaying mansion in which she's chosen to entomb herself. Is Claire the unexpected someone who will finally provide that meaningful human connection that Virgil has avoided all this time? Or is she merely the vehicle through which he will finally be made to pay for the many professional transgressions he's committed over the course of his lifetime? Rush carries almost the entire weight of this film on his shoulders, and he certainly shows he has the acting chops to see it through. Since Hoeks is largely off-screen for large portions of the movie, her task is a somewhat less arduous one, though her accomplishment is no less impressive for that. Jim Sturgess and Donald Sutherland are also effective in smaller, yet highly significant, roles in the drama. With a smart screenplay and lyrical direction by Giuseppe Tornatore, "The Best Offer" is a haunting, mesmerizing film that draws you into its world and keeps you guessing every step of the way till the big reveal at the end.

Here we go round a familiar theme one more time. As with Writer/Director Giuseppe Tornatore's earlier film "The Legend of 1900" we again have largely overblown characters in unbelievable situations. In both these offerings, we have characters that similarly, for one reason or another, have supposedly never been completely part of the 'real' world. What is it that makes some audiences so ready to accept a movie as 'great', simply because it looks visually stylish? Pour enough money into a limp idea, and it can look way better than it actually is. 'The Best Offer' primarily comes across as style over substance. The strongest aspect of this film is it's 'look'. Cinematographer Fabio Zamarion works hard to achieve above average nuances under Tornatore's call, and this, coupled with terrific production design and set decoration wins handsomely. It's just a pity they've been saddled with a script that stretches all believability till it cracks under the strain. If these stories are expected to be taken as fables, then why are they given such deadly serious treatments, taking them into the 'realistic' realm? Geoffrey Rush's character Virgil, is a man of long term 'set' habits --obsessive compulsive to the extreme-- (wont touch anything without gloves, avoids eye contact wherever possible) yet within a few weeks we're expected to believe his near complete turn around. Off come the gloves, he's now even primed to have raucous sex with a girl more than half his 60+ years. This might have been OK if it were the only trait we had to overlook, but the story features so many outlandish situations that if you pause, just slightly, to ponder them ~ you realize it's as fake as some of the art works this critic --of world renown-- is supposed to be able to recognize. Rush is such a professional he almost pulls it off (but I wouldn't be surprised if he wished he could have re-written some sections) Unfortunately, relationships between many characters throughout this work also stretch credibility, with way too much left unexplained. Still, if you like movies that have been treated to an expensive 'arty' look, have outlandish situations (complete with large plot holes) then you could easily see this as a favorite. Ennio Morricone's music score is complex and quite sophisticated, but as a collector of his work, I found it musically rather unmemorable. Thinking on this Director's movies reminds me that the old adage; "You can fool some of the people some of the time, but not all of the people all of the time", remains relevant...

it is a good film. good acting, good directing, good story, good music... it's not the best i've seen recently (i just saw 'the hunt' from thomas vinterberg and that blew me off completely), but it is worth watching. movie will keep you engaged all the way. i didn't like the ending, but i guess any other ending wouldn't fit, so i shouldn't complain too much. i gave it 8 out of 10 stars, because every single element of a movie (from music to production to directing to...) is real good. considering many mediocre (at best! :) ) movies that we see so often, i would say that this movie deserves to be seen. it's pleasing to the eye, it's soothing in some way... i don't regret seeing it.

I still can not describe my state of mind at the end of the film, a mixture of devastating feelings that left me breathless, a state of mind that only the greatest movies are able to leave, and this is one of those movies ! Inside there is so much stuff to talk about that in a comment like this is highly simplistic! If you love art, psychology, suspense, love stories, in short, if you love life, this movie will surprise you. A great cast of characters and works of art (TONS!) complete the work and make it an unmissable, different from all the other great movies of Tornatore. Beware then by those who want to associate this film with a film of Hitchcock because it means dismantle and destroy the film, this film is much more! Thrilling is only one small part of a masterpiece of international cinema! Absolutely a must see!

source: The Best Offer

Here we go round a familiar theme one more time. As with Writer/Director Giuseppe Tornatore's earlier film "The Legend of 1900" we again have largely overblown characters in unbelievable situations. In both these offerings, we have characters that similarly, for one reason or another, have supposedly never been completely part of the 'real' world. What is it that makes some audiences so ready to accept a movie as 'great', simply because it looks visually stylish? Pour enough money into a limp idea, and it can look way better than it actually is. 'The Best Offer' primarily comes across as style over substance. The strongest aspect of this film is it's 'look'. Cinematographer Fabio Zamarion works hard to achieve above average nuances under Tornatore's call, and this, coupled with terrific production design and set decoration wins handsomely. It's just a pity they've been saddled with a script that stretches all believability till it cracks under the strain. If these stories are expected to be taken as fables, then why are they given such deadly serious treatments, taking them into the 'realistic' realm? Geoffrey Rush's character Virgil, is a man of long term 'set' habits --obsessive compulsive to the extreme-- (wont touch anything without gloves, avoids eye contact wherever possible) yet within a few weeks we're expected to believe his near complete turn around. Off come the gloves, he's now even primed to have raucous sex with a girl more than half his 60+ years. This might have been OK if it were the only trait we had to overlook, but the story features so many outlandish situations that if you pause, just slightly, to ponder them ~ you realize it's as fake as some of the art works this critic --of world renown-- is supposed to be able to recognize. Rush is such a professional he almost pulls it off (but I wouldn't be surprised if he wished he could have re-written some sections) Unfortunately, relationships between many characters throughout this work also stretch credibility, with way too much left unexplained. Still, if you like movies that have been treated to an expensive 'arty' look, have outlandish situations (complete with large plot holes) then you could easily see this as a favorite. Ennio Morricone's music score is complex and quite sophisticated, but as a collector of his work, I found it musically rather unmemorable. Thinking on this Director's movies reminds me that the old adage; "You can fool some of the people some of the time, but not all of the people all of the time", remains relevant...

This is for rightwingisevil - You are confusing Billy Whistler played by Donald Sutherland for Robert played by Jim Sturgess. Billy knew all about his collection as he helped him acquire it. The painting Virgil received was painted by him...thus the note on the back. Absolutely splendid movie.The best I have watched so far this year. Geoffry Rush was excellent, however, I am not much of a Donald Sutherland fan, the arrogance that he carries around in real life comes through in all the roles he portrays. Kind Regards, Eirene

This was so promising and turned out to be a melodramatic mess of a con movie. Like someone earlier said, it looked like someone threw out a very intriguing script out the window after the first 20 minutes or so of the movie. I was feeling sorry for Geoffrey Rush. Actually, it's not even the sad ending of the story that bothers me, but the poor execution of it. This story starts out as something with the promise of fineness and delicacy, and at one point starts to be totally over the top and even illogical. It is one of those moments when I feel insulted that someone is actually expecting me to believe this crap.

The beginning of this film promises so much, which is why the subsequent two+ hours (felt much longer) are such a disappointment as the story becomes complete interminable tosh. Acting is fine, and the setup is good, but it appears that 20 minutes in someone lost the original script and picked up a copy of the Letts guide to Great Expectations. It is one of those films that aliens could have turned up at any minute and would not have looked out of place. The majority of the supporting actors are English, but the buildings and street landscape clearly is not England, so I found myself confused as to where we were supposed to be. Other films have done a much better job of setting a film in Italy with actors speaking English. Finally, the plot holes are huge, and seem to willingly contradict themselves. Perhaps this is to emphasis the effect that falling in love has on the main character, who is too besotted not to able to connect the dots and recognise these inconsistencies, but I fear this is too generous a conclusion. The film is simply a mess. The one saviour is that the set designers, cinematographer and actors clearly don't realise the end product will be so bad, and are therefore very good throughout. The failure of this film rests on the script- writers, producers, editors and especially the director. With lots of beautifully shot and acted screens then a competent director should have been able to a assemble a mediocre film in the edit. However, what he has produced is the worst film I've seen in a decade.

This review has spoilers pretty early on. I can't believe so many people gave this movie such a high rating. The Best Offer starts off great but then quickly fizzles into an abyss of dullness. It went from moderately paced to a snails crawl after Virgil discovered Claire's secret apartment. If it weren't for the description of the film as a crime drama mystery I wouldn't of known where to expect the movie to go. The main question rolling around in my brain was why would Virgil choose Robert as his confidant when he and Billy were friends for years? Secondly, why would Sarah discuss Robert's affairs with Virgil? Lastly, why was Billy so intent on convincing Virgil of his love and friendship? The whole time I kept wondering when the big climax was going to happen. At the end when all was revealed it wasn't a big surprise that Claire, Robert, Billy, Fred, and Sarah con Virgil out of his art collection. Thankfully Sylvia Hoeks shows great skill in playing the crazy Claire. Listening to her hysterics gave me anxiety. She was amazing and annoying at the same time. Geoffrey Rush gave a solid performance. I also like the fact Virgil is a con artist and has OCD. If the producers had cut out the unnecessary scenes they could have developed their characters more. If you are looking for a movie that builds excitement as it progresses then this movie isn't for you. It's a pretty predictable plot with zero surprises.