Vertigo this ain’t, but there’s some quasi-Gothic charm in the baroque premise and eccentric marginal details, including a mathematically gifted dwarf.
The Best Offer(La migliore offerta)
Italy · 2013
Rated R · 2h 11m
Director Giuseppe Tornatore
Starring Geoffrey Rush, Jim Sturgess, Sylvia Hoeks, Donald Sutherland
Genre Drama, Romance, Crime
Add to Watchlist
Please login to add films to your watchlist.
Virgil Oldman is a world renowned antiques expert and auctioneer. An eccentric genius, he leads a solitary life, going to extreme lengths to keep his distance from the messiness of human relationships. When appointed by the beautiful but emotionally damaged Claire to oversee the valuation and sale of her family’s priceless art collection, Virgil allows himself to form an attachment to her – and soon he is engulfed by a passion which will rock his bland existence to the core.
What are people saying?
What are critics saying?
Between its erotic underpinnings and increasingly preposterous third-act reveals, the film could easily pass for middle-grade Hitchcock. Since its premise is that forgeries can still have value, that’s a high compliment.
Filmed in what you might call the international hotel style, Tornatore's idiotic premise is entertaining if you don't inspect it too carefully, or look for anything beneath the portentousness.
The Hollywood Reporter by Deborah Young
Though it begs for a little lightening up, a moment of irony, a wink at the audience, this dead-serious fairy tale about a mysterious young woman (and a phantom automaton straight out of Hugo) is worth watching for Geoffrey Rush’s sensitive, never pandering performance.
Aiming for a Hitchcockian take on an eccentric auctioneer (well-handled by Geoffrey Rush) who becomes enamored of an heiress with severe agoraphobia, the pic ends up more in Dan Brown territory, with over-obvious setups and phony insight into the art establishment.
Strangely old-fashioned in its construction and requiring a Golden Gate-level feat of engineering to achieve the suspension of disbelief necessary to unironically enjoy it.
The fully committed Rush, at least, commands our constant attention, and no movie with a kookier-than-usual Ennio Morricone score (dig those staccato-chanting chorines!) could ever be a total waste of canvas.
An intriguingly Hitchcockian premise gradually takes on a preposterous air in the art-world noir The Best Offer.
Slant Magazine by Nick McCarthy
It ascribes to the falsehood that a rarefied milieu inherently infuses a film with intelligence, as if inept execution can be covered up by pretty lensing.
The New York Times by Nicolas Rapold
Mr. Rush can’t fly far on Mr. Tornatore’s dialogue and workmanlike plotting, and Sylvia Hoeks, as Claire, doesn’t bring a corresponding energy.
Users who liked this film also liked
My Brother Is an Only Child
(Mio fratello è figlio unico)
Two brothers living in 1960s Italy engage and commit themselves to conflicting radical politics: one a fascist, the other a communist.
- ✭ ✭ ✭ ✭
- Italy, France • 2007
- Director Daniele Luchetti
- Cast Elio Germano, Riccardo Scamarcio, Angela Finocchiaro, Massimo Popolizio, Ascanio Celestini, Alba Rohrwacher
- Genre Comedy, Drama
- Available on realeyz
The Legend of 1900
(La leggenda del pianista sull'oceano)
The eccentric life story of a piano prodigy who has never set left the ocean liner on which he was born.
- ✭ ✭ ✭
- Italy • 1998
- Director Giuseppe Tornatore
- Cast Tim Roth, Pruitt Taylor Vince, Mélanie Thierry, Bill Nunn, Gabriele Lavia, Clarence Williams III
- Genre Drama, Music, Romance
- Available on No streaming locations found.
Malena
(Malèna)
A small-town Italian schoolteacher oblivious to her good-looks, and the young man who grows up transfixed by her.
- ✭ ✭ ✭
- Italy, United States • 2000
- Director Giuseppe Tornatore
- Cast Monica Bellucci, Giuseppe Sulfaro, Luciano Federico, Matilde Piana, Pietro Notarianni, Gaetano Aronica
- Genre Drama
- Available on Redbox, Amazon Video, Hoopla, Vudu, Apple TV
The Unknown Woman
(La sconosciuta)
A Ukrainian woman with a dark secret insinuates herself into the lives of the wealthy Italian family she works for.
- ✭ ✭ ✭
- Italy, France • 2006
- Director Giuseppe Tornatore
- Cast Kseniya Rappoport, Michele Placido, Claudia Gerini, Pierfrancesco Favino, Clara Dossena, Alessandro Haber
- Genre Thriller
- Available on Freevee, Amazon Video, Hoopla, Vudu, VUDU Free, Tubi TV, The Roku Channel
Cinema Paradiso
(Nuovo Cinema Paradiso)
A celebration of youth, friendship, and the everlasting magic of the movies.
- ✭ ✭ ✭ ✭
- Italy, France • 1988
- Director Giuseppe Tornatore
- Cast Philippe Noiret, Jacques Perrin, Marco Leonardi, Salvatore Cascio, Agnese Nano, Antonella Attili
- Genre Drama, Romance
- Available on DIRECTV, Google Play Movies, Amazon Video, Hoopla, Vudu, Kanopy, YouTube, Pluto TV, Apple TV, Paramount Plus Apple TV Channel
The Best of Youth
(La meglio gioventú)
Spanning four decades, from the chaotic 1960s to 2003, director Marco Tullio Giordana's passionate epic 'La Meglio Gioventu' follows two Italian brothers through some of the most tumultuous events of recent Italian history.
- ✭ ✭ ✭ ✭
- Italy • 2003
- Director Marco Tullio Giordana
- Cast Luigi Lo Cascio, Alessio Boni, Adriana Asti, Sonia Bergamasco, Fabrizio Gifuni, Maya Sansa
- Genre Drama, Romance
- Available on Amazon Video
Johnny Stecchino
Sometimes a banana is just a banana!
- ✭ ✭ ✭ ✭
- Italy • 1991
- Director Roberto Benigni
- Cast Roberto Benigni, Nicoletta Braschi, Paolo Bonacelli, Franco Volpi, Ivano Marescotti, Turi Scalia
- Genre Comedy
- Available on No streaming locations found.
A Pure Formality
(Una pura formalità)
- ✭ ✭ ✭ ✭
- Italy, France • 1994
- Director Giuseppe Tornatore
- Cast Gérard Depardieu, Roman Polanski, Sergio Rubini, Nicola Di Pinto, Tano Cimarosa, Paolo Lombardi
- Genre Mystery, Drama, Crime, Thriller
- Available on Shout! Factory TV, Kino Now, Kanopy, The Roku Channel
The Consequences of Love
(Le conseguenze dell'amore)
Everyone has a dark secret
- ✭ ✭ ✭ ✭
- Italy • 2004
- Director Paolo Sorrentino
- Cast Toni Servillo, Olivia Magnani, Adriano Giannini, Antonio Ballerio, Gianna Paola Scaffidi, Nino D'Agata
- Genre Drama, Thriller
- Available on No streaming locations found.
Baaria
(Baarìa)
- ✭ ✭ ✭ ✭
- Italy, France • 2009
- Director Giuseppe Tornatore
- Cast Francesco Scianna, Margareth Madè, Lina Sastri, Ángela Molina, Nicole Grimaudo, Salvatore Ficarra
- Genre Drama, Comedy, Romance
- Available on Plex, Pluto TV
Three Men and a Leg
(Tre uomini e una gamba)
WANTED: A Leg, Dead or Alive
- ✭ ✭ ✭ ✭
- Italy • 1997
- Director Massimo Venier, Aldo Baglio, Giovanni Storti, Giacomo Poretti
- Cast Aldo Baglio, Giovanni Storti, Giacomo Poretti, Marina Massironi, Carlo Croccolo, Maria Pia Casilio
- Genre Comedy
- Available on No streaming locations found.
Mary Forever
(Mery per sempre)
- ✭ ✭ ✭ ✭
- Italy • 1989
- Director Marco Risi
- Cast Michele Placido, Claudio Amendola, Francesco Benigno, Alessandra Di Sanzo, Tony Sperandeo, Roberto Mariano
- Genre Crime, Drama
- Available on No streaming locations found.
The King's Speech
Find your voice.
- ✭ ✭ ✭ ✭
- United Kingdom, United States, Australia • 2010
- Director Tom Hooper
- Cast Colin Firth, Geoffrey Rush, Helena Bonham Carter, Guy Pearce
- Genre Drama, History
- Available on Starz Apple TV Channel, DIRECTV, Microsoft Store, Redbox, Google Play Movies, Amazon Video, AMC on Demand, Vudu, Spectrum On Demand, Plex, YouTube, Pluto TV, Apple TV, Amazon Prime Video
This Must Be the Place
A retired rock star sets out to find his father's executioner, an ex-Nazi war criminal, who is a refugee in the U.S.
- ✭ ✭ ✭
- Italy, France, Ireland • 2011
- Director Paolo Sorrentino
- Cast Sean Penn, Olwen Fouéré, Eve Hewson, Johnny Ward, Sam Keeley, Danielle O'Brien
- Genre Drama
- Available on Microsoft Store, Redbox, Google Play Movies, Amazon Video, AMC on Demand, Hoopla, Vudu, Spectrum On Demand, VUDU Free, Kanopy, YouTube
The Great Beauty
(La grande bellezza)
A colorful, enchanting tale of one man's search for grand beauty and purpose in the majestic city of Rome.
- ✭ ✭ ✭ ✭
- Italy, France • 2013
- Director Paolo Sorrentino
- Cast Toni Servillo, Carlo Verdone, Sabrina Ferilli, Carlo Buccirosso, Iaia Forte, Pamela Villoresi
- Genre Drama
- Available on Criterion Channel, Google Play Movies, Amazon Video, Vudu, YouTube, Apple TV, Max, Max Amazon Channel
The Mafia Kills Only in Summer
(La mafia uccide solo d'estate)
A lovesick young journalist joins the Sicilian anti-Mafia movement in this black comedy.
- ✭ ✭ ✭
- Italy • 2013
- Director Pif
- Cast Pif, Cristiana Capotondi, Rosario Lisma, Barbara Tabita, Alex Bisconti, Ginevra Antona
- Genre Comedy, Crime, Drama, Romance
- Available on Google Play Movies, Amazon Video, Vudu, OVID, VUDU Free, Kanopy, Plex, Tubi TV, YouTube, Apple TV
Human Capital
(Il capitale umano)
The destinies of two families are irrevocably tied together after a car accident on Christmas Eve.
- ✭ ✭ ✭
- Italy, France • 2014
- Director Paolo Virzì
- Cast Valeria Bruni-Tedeschi, Fabrizio Bentivoglio, Fabrizio Gifuni, Valeria Golino, Luigi Lo Cascio, Matilde Gioli
- Genre Drama
- Available on Microsoft Store, Film Movement Plus, Google Play Movies, Amazon Video, Vudu, Kanopy, YouTube, Apple TV
Correspondence
(La corrispondenza)
- ✭ ✭ ✭
- Italy • 2016
- Director Giuseppe Tornatore
- Cast Jeremy Irons, Olga Kurylenko, Simon Johns, Shauna Macdonald, Simon Meacock, James Warren
- Genre Drama, Romance
- Available on DIRECTV, Microsoft Store, Google Play Movies, Amazon Video, Vudu, YouTube, Apple TV
They Call Me Jeeg
(Lo chiamavano Jeeg Robot)
A superhero like no other
- ✭ ✭ ✭ ✭
- Italy • 2015
- Director Gabriele Mainetti
- Cast Claudio Santamaria, Ilenia Pastorelli, Luca Marinelli, Stefano Ambrogi, Maurizio Tesei, Francesco Formichetti
- Genre Action, Drama, Comedy, Thriller, Science Fiction
- Available on Freevee, Microsoft Store, Google Play Movies, Amazon Video, Vudu, VUDU Free, Kanopy, Tubi TV, YouTube, Pluto TV, Darkmatter TV, Apple TV
Like Crazy
(La pazza gioia)
In Tuscany, two women escape from a psychiatric facility and go on a life-changing adventure.
- ✭ ✭ ✭ ✭
- Italy, France • 2016
- Director Paolo Virzì
- Cast Valeria Bruni Tedeschi, Micaela Ramazzotti, Valentina Carnelutti, Anna Galiena, Tommaso Ragno, Marco Messeri
- Genre Comedy, Drama
- Available on Google Play Movies, Amazon Video, realeyz, Vudu, Kanopy, YouTube, IndieFlix, Apple TV
Perfect Strangers
(Perfetti sconosciuti)
Everyone has three lives: a public life, a private life and a secret life
- ✭ ✭ ✭ ✭
- Italy • 2016
- Director Paolo Genovese
- Cast Giuseppe Battiston, Anna Foglietta, Marco Giallini, Edoardo Leo, Valerio Mastandrea, Alba Rohrwacher
- Genre Comedy, Drama
- Available on No streaming locations found.