3 reviews
Sales Rank: 25492

Format: Hifi Sound, Pal
Rating: Suitable for 18 years and over
Media: VHS Tape
Number Of Discs: 1
Running Time: 91 Minutes

EAN: 5014756129729
ASIN: B00008T2C1

Theatrical Release Date: September 25, 1987
Release Date: March 15, 1993
Availability: Usually dispatched within 1-2 business days
Shipping: International shipping available
Condition: SUPER FAST SHIPPING, DISPATCHED SAME DAY FROM UK WAREHOUSE. GREAT VIDEO IN GOOD OR BETTER CONDITION, VIDEO IN PAL FORMAT. MORE GREAT BARGAINS IN OUR eSHOP. amazon.co.uk/shops/awesome_books_001

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Editorial Reviews:

Amazon.co.uk Review
John Flynn has directed some good, tough, pacy thrillers and Best Seller, along with the 1973 The Outfit, can claim to be the best of them. It kicks off with not one but two slam-bang action sequences and then, having grabbed our attention, pitches us straight into its twisty plot premise. Brian Dennehy, reliably watchable as ever, plays an ageing cop-turned-novelist who has hit a writer's block since his wife died. James Woods at his most suavely sinister is a hitman with dirt to dish on the head of a big corporation. Woods proposes a Faustian pact. He provides Dennehy with the full crooked story on the mobster-turned-corporate boss and the cop writes it up. Dennehy gets a best seller; Woods gets his revenge and comes out looking like a hero.

The dialogue, courtesy of screenwriter and horror-movie director Larry Cohen (It's Alive; Q--The Winged Serpent), is satisfyingly hard-boiled and slips in plenty of subversive sideswipes at rampant capitalism. ("It's the American Way, Dennis," says Woods, detailing how he helped his boss rise via robbery and murder. "I'm a businessman, an executive.") This certainly isn't the only movie to get mileage out of the symbiotic relationship between cop and crook (see Michael Mann's Heat), but it works several neat variations on the theme, with Dennehy and Woods both at the top of their respective forms. If the film never quite lives up to its potential--the required final confrontation between the two principals doesn't materialise and Victoria Tennant is thrown away as Dennehy's love-interest--it remains a way better than average thriller with its roots deep in the best B-movie traditions.

On the DVD: Best Seller on disc has no extras apart from the theatrical trailer. The transfer is good and clean, and preserves the original's full-width framing. --Philip Kemp

Customer Reviews:

4 out of 5 stars

A Little Gem October 30, 2006
S J Buck (Kent, UK)
3 out of 3 found this review helpful

This cracking little thriller features two of Hollywoods most underated actors. James Woods always the 2nd string to better known actors, and Brian Dennehy who is now an award winning stage actor on Broadway.

Without these two actors and the chemistry that develops between them the film wouldn't have worked. Its an interesting story that keeps you guessing where its going (unless you've seen it as many times as I have). The direction by John Flynn is straightforward, and the script by Larry Cohen is pretty sharp. There are a few memorable scenes that will stick with you, and I would say its one of the few films I've seen where it could have been 15 minutes longer.

Woods plays the villian in the film, with Dennehy playing the cop who is now a successful novelist. Something in their past links them together and Woods wants Dennehy to write about it!

If you've managed to miss this film over the last 20 years, its well worth buying, as I have found it certainly holds up to repeated viewings.

5 out of 5 stars

Keeps you hooked January 9, 2006
3 out of 3 found this review helpful

I only bought this because it was cheap and I'm a huge James Woods fan, really I'd little idea what to expect but I wasn't disappointed.
The performances are solid and the two lead characters (Cleve and Dennis) are interesting and likeable. The film is about a criminal (Cleve-Woods) who wants revenge on his former employer by having all the employer's secrets released in a book, which he wants written by cop Dennis who once had fame for writing the non-fiction book about a robbery of which he was the only survivor.
Cleve wants the book to mostly be about him and at first comes across as a wicked, selfish character, whilst Dennis is pitiful and pathetic at times. Both characters grow and strengthen through the movie, Dennis is admirable through his strong desire to protect his daughter and Cleve is humourous and one has to sympathise with his desire to be liked despite his deeds.
The relationship between the two is excellently portrayed and I would reccomend this to people who like not just crime movies but general thrillers, the soundtrack is good for the age and the suspense is always there.

5 out of 5 stars

Just Brilliant!Keeps you hooked! July 16, 2003
6 out of 7 found this review helpful

I was watching t.v late one evening and was just about to pop of to bed when I heard a knock on the door.It was my two older brothers.Being a rowdy lot I knew I wouldn't get asleep for a good while so we all sat down in front of the t.v flicked on bbc1 and seen a film was going to start.This is one of the best movies to come out of the 80's gritty and hardhitting.It serves up tension and violence by the bucket load.Absolutely fantastic,watchout for the great ending.