The Best Offer – Review

Posted by His Master's Review ⋅ September 1, 2013 ⋅ Leave a comment

Filed Under Best Offer, Cinema Paradiso, Donald Sutherland, Ennio Morricone, Geoffrey Rush, Giuseppe Tornatore, Kick-Ass 2, Virgil

We have been so excited Kick-Ass 2, that we almost forgot that another brilliant movie is releasing this today: The Best Offer.

As per the studio, the official synopsis for the movie is:

Acclaimed director Giuseppe Tornatore (Cinema Paradiso) reunites with renowned
composer Ennio Morricone for THE BEST OFFER, a dramatic mystery set in the highstakes world of European art auctions.

Virgil Oldman (Geoffrey Rush) is a solitary, cultured man whose reluctance to engage with others, especially women, is matched only by the dogged obsessiveness with which he practices his profession as a high-end antiques dealer. One day Virgil receives a phone
call from a mysterious young heiress, Claire (Sylvia Hoeks), who asks him to evaluate some family.

Geoffrey Rush in The Best Offer – Movie Poster courtesy Transmission Films

We watched the movie, and below is our review:

Geoffrey Rush shines in director Giuseppe Tornatore’s latest offering, The Best Offer.

The movie not only showcases the exclusive art of the auctioning, limited to the snobby who’s who of society, but also tries to go inside the mind of an art collector and auctioneer.

Virgil Oldman (Geoffrey Rush) lead stars as an aging bachelor, who is fussy, eccentric, whimsical, and superstitious about everything he does in life.

Geoffrey Rush in The Best Offer – Movie Poster courtesy Transmission Films

On the surface, he runs an esteemed Auction House, and due to having a brilliant eye for evaluating art/antiques and differentiating between originals and fakes, he has amassed great respect and wealth in the course of his career.

But beneath this sophistication, lies a dark secret: he is a crook, a thief if you may, who at times cheats and lies at auctions to get a painting he wants for a very cheap price, with the help of his friend Billy Whistler (Donald Sutherland).

So far, so good. His life carries on, oblivious to the storm it is about to take.

Enters his life a beautiful and mysterious heiress, Claire Ibbetson (Sylvia Hoeks), who due to a rare disease, doesn’t meet people, but remained concealed and hidden, like a ghost, in her spooky family mansion.

Sylvia Hoeks in The Best Offer – Movie Poster courtesy Transmission Films

Reluctantly, Virgil takes up the job of evaluating her possessions, and comes across a mysterious artifact that interests him.

Little does he know that that piece of artifact has been deliberately kept there, to get his attention.

The story moves on, with Virgil gets more interested in both Claire, and the artifact.

Slowly, Virgil and Claire fall in love with each other, but as the story comes to an end, Virgil realizes that what seems may not be true and real after all!

The Best Offer is a haunting, at times amusing, but mostly gripping tale of love set in the world of arts and artifacts.

This intriguing story, masterly directed by Cinema Paradiso’s director, has a cheery on the top: a chilling musical score by Ennio Morricone, that lives with you long after the movie, its mansion, its weird characters and sultry locations are gone.

Rating 3 stars

by Joseph R, Editor-in-Chief, His Master’s Review