REVIEW - THE BEST OFFER

This rancid offering from Giuseppe Tornatore, whose directorial tendencies have always been questionable, stews in its classical convictions, embracing all of the traits, both good and bad, of mystery filmmaking from bygone eras, be they wisely employed or not. Alas, they are consistently not, and I state as such with total confidence. Tornatore's comical insistence on even the most outmoded aspects of the intelligent crime thrillers he apes sends his film diving immediately and irreversibly into the furthest depths of the sea of self-parody, and in the modern age, his pompous predilection for the fineries in life simply does not work. He has constructed a film in which each and every stock supporting character is as crudely and unconvincingly drawn as needs be, those needs being of his protagonist, a bristly, ageing art collector and auctioneer played by Geoffrey Rush with a determination that sets him apart from all around him. He and his trusty assistant, played by Jim Sturgess, are surrounded by women of all shapes, sizes, ages and levels of attractiveness: some are tall, while others are taller, some are slim, while others are slimmer, some are late 20s, while others are early 20s, some are gorgeous, while others are drop dead gorgeous. And all must defer to the will of their masters, these ridiculous, self-centered, emotionally abusive liars of all levels of unattractiveness. Rarely has so exquisitely-crafted (if utterly dated and pointlessly ostentatious in its design) a film been so repugnant in its thematic content, nor so terribly written. Sturgess' character in particular is an unrelenting source of unintentional comedy, so vast are the contradictions in his persona and so hilarious Tornatore's CAPS LOCK soundbites are when spoken in his youthful, overly sincere, London tones. And Sylvia Hoeks' character in particular is such a revolting old man fantasy, and beyond that so thinly developed that any sensible viewer would have sound reason to cease viewing once her identity is unveiled, and plenty more reason once she herself is unveiled physically. You may notice here a single star in my star rating for The Best Offer. At least an entire half of that is attributable to a typically brilliant score from the peerless Ennio Morricone. That he was able to score this despicable piece of wannabe art to such excellent art of his own is testament to his prowess as a composer.