AaronCapenBanner James Woods plays a hit man named Cleve, who contacts a successful true crime author & former cop Dennis Meechum(played by Brian Dennehy) who got his start after he was the sole survivor of a deadly holdup at the police evidence department years earlier. Cleve wants Dennis to write his life story, which he feels is most interesting, and as a way to get back at his former employer, a powerful corporation he helped build. Meechum is intrigued but also skeptical, so Cleve takes him on a tour of his past, both with his parents and also his "assignments". Dennis learns that Cleve has a deeper connection to him than he realizes, and that some powerful forces don't want this proposed book published...Little-seen thriller is quite well done, with fine acting by the leads, and efficient direction and story. Almost goes wrong toward the end with the expected violent finale, but is still exciting enough to compensate, with the well-plotted story unfolding most effectively.Worth catching on DVD.

Maziun "Bestseller" is essentially a two character movie. This interesting movie mainly hinges on the often antagonistic relationship between two strong personalities – Ex-cop who is famous writer ( Brian Dennehy) and ex-hit-man ( James Woods).The chemistry between them is exquisite. The way Dennehy's character bonds with Wood's character despite the intense anger he feels towards him is very well done. You could cut the tension between them with a knife. The two worked off each other impeccably and build a sympathetic, but also conflicting edge that never feels forced. Both Dennehy and Woods gave quite possibly the best performances of their lives. Dennehy is great as stubborn , brave and honest hero. Woods is intriguing as a psychopath with pride in his workmanship , but also as a man who seeks redemption.The screenplay unfortunately isn't a brilliant one. There is a very strong subtext about portraying a dark side of corporations and capitalism . You could say that Woods character has it's own (dark) vision of the American Dream. "Bestseller" also tries to ask important questions: Why Woods became a monster ? Is he bad person or a good person who lost his way ? Too bad that the movie never tries to answer to this questions. The motivation for Woods to work with Dennehy is also rather weak. On the good side – the "twist" appears in the middle of the movie and that's a good thing. Also the ending isn't 100% predictable.There are some effective moments of very nasty violence , but they all are necessary , so I don't mind them. The synthesizer score composed by Jay Ferguson is ugly sounding. I've already praised both Dennehy and Woods . The rest of the cast is OK.Overall , it's a decent thriller. I think that with a far better screenplay this could be a really great movie. The premise is there , but without Dennehy and Woods it would be a weak movie. I give it 5/10.

gridsleep This is like an old time cop movie, very well served. If this had been made in the 1940s, I could see it starring Humphrey Bogart as the cynical cop and Alan Ladd as the hit man trying to justify his life, with Adolph Menjou as the corrupt businessman. Minus the brief nudity, of course. That's about the only major change between movies then and now, at least movies of this ilk. It's a little corny, but it's tightly woven and well played. The story is standard, so it's the characters that have to carry it. Woods and Dennehy bring really rounded, deep characters to a shallow little cops and robbers story. I started to dislike Dennis for his disliking Cleve, then, when Cleve shows his true face, I disliked Cleve. Then, Cleve shows he is really capable of acts of kindness. And Dennis is capable of understanding and forgiveness. In the end, the bad guys get what's coming to them and the hero is revealed. What more could you want from a good old fashioned film noir, even with all that California sunshine and pastel wallpaper? The only thing that might have made this better is if it had been filmed in black and white.

Robert J. Maxwell What would have happened to Joseph Wambaugh, the LAPD cop and author of several well-known police novels, including "The New Centurions", if he burned himself out and had no more to write? Maybe he would have been approached by a burned out hit man for a corrupt organization. The hit man might have wanted his homicidal shenanigans revealed in a tell-all book that would have glorified him and led to the conviction of the organization's chief miscreant. The partnership would have been edgy, filled with conflict, and dangerous as hell.That's basically the plot of this film. Brian Dennehy is the burned out cop who is suspended temporarily from the force. This is a recurring ritual point in these films. Only in this case, instead of turning in his shield and gun, Dennehy suggests sick leave and it is happily given him. The steely hit man is James Woods, unflappable under any circumstances. The head of the mob is Paul Shenar, my supporting player in the art house masterpiece entitled "Raw Deal" with Ahnold Braunschweiger.The screenplay tries to make something of the Doppelganger theme but, to the extent that it's there at all, it's a shadow of its usual self. Dennehy and Woods have nothing in common except that their inspiration has flagged. Dennehy doesn't mind being a cop but he seems to have written himself out. Woods is bitter because he's just been fired and replaced and is looking for revenge. One doesn't represent the other's repressed desires, which is the touchstone of the Doppelganger business, as it was in, say, Robert Louis Stevenson's "Dr. Jeykll and Mister Hyde," or in MGM's "Forbidden Planet." But they tacked it on anyway, I suppose in an attempt to lend some weightier symbolism to what is basically a cop thriller and shoot-'em-up. There's a good deal of sneaking around in the dark, often with drawn pistols. There's a threatened wife and a kidnapped teen-aged daughter. Shenar is surrounded by well-groomed thugs, all of them killed by the team of Dennehy and Woods.There are some original touches. A cornered thug is threatened with a silenced pistol by Woods, who makes some wisecrack. "Why don't you skip the insults and just get it over with," says the goon, the kind who is usually faceless, and Woods immediately shoots him without another word. Just for a few seconds, the dialog allowed that henchman to emerge from the primordial stereotypical functionality that this role always demands. For a few seconds, he was more than just another bad guy to be killed in the complete absence of any distinction.That's about it. It must not have taken much effort to give the doomed gunman that line. (Maybe it was even an accident, just left in the script because it was overlooked.) Yet it would have been nice to have as much thought given to the rest of the script.Dennehy is his reliable, bulky self. Woods is jumpy and talks at a rapid clip, kind of at odds with the character. He does his best to tone himself down but as an actor he carries a lot of baggage with him and we can't forget that under this icy calm exterior there's a whole nother James Woods aching to bust out.In sum: Not bad, but pretty much middling.