The Best Offer (2013)

Viewed on Netflix


I had not heard of this film, but Geoffrey Rush always provides an excellent experience so I watched.  Geoffrey Rush even elevates the Pirates of the Caribbean series.  This film is beautifully shot and scored.  The performances are uniformly excellent, both for the main and secondary characters. Perhaps this film could have used some editing. Some scenes are overly long.  I did see the twist happening fairly early in the film. However, the movie was so beautiful to view with dialogue so intelligent, that I stayed. I did not feel that the movie manipulated or lied to me, I knew what was coming. The descriptions of the art and the antiques in this film gave insight into the people who moved around these objects.  The conclusion of the film was a little metaphor-heavy with the decor. I took the last portion of dialogue from Virgil Oldman (Geoffrey Rush) to mean, when all else fails, there is still hope. While this movie takes place in modern day (iPad and smartphones are in resident among the relics, dust and debris), I would recommend this film to those who enjoy Jane Austen, period (18th/19th century) romances and museums. To provide my own metaphor, traveling through this movie is like taking the train rather than the jet. The trip is as important as the destination.

SPOILER: Listen very closely to everything the Donald Sutherland character says, so many clues.