Bestseller (2016)

Bestseller is a book that should not have been adapted into a movie. The story is better suited for the written word than for the screen.

Bestseller is a film directed by Chrissy Rohn, based on the 2001 novel of the same name by Christopher Knight. It stars Melissa Anschutz and DJ Perry.

The plot of Bestseller sounds like it has a lot of potentials. It was likely a good read as a novel. Unfortunately, it is impossible to accurately portray the content of every book in a movie that is only one and a half hours long. A lot of the time, important context gets left out. Character's motivations suffer when certain scenes are not given enough time to develop. This results in a poorer quality final product.

Unfortunately, the teaser didn't deliver on its promise.

This movie was a little below average in quality. It could have been better if it had been more exciting.

The movie starts with a murder, which promises a more exciting story. However, the rest of the film is very formulaic and predictable. While it's true that sticking too closely to established tropes in horror and thriller movies can be a recipe for disaster, it's also worth noting that tropes themselves are not necessarily a bad thing. However, deviating too far from established tropes can be just as disastrous in many cases.

Bestseller starts strong, with an intriguing premise. However, once the story unfolds, it goes off the rails.

One of the film's fundamental premises is that Anne's young daughter suffers from chronic illness. Anne's love for her daughter and dedication to her care are significant focuses of the story. Even though her daughter needs more medical tests, Anne decides to vacation.

Anne's daughter worries about her upcoming tests, but Anne does not cancel her vacation to accompany her. The mother in the story leaves it up to the live-in nanny to deal with the hospital visit.

I don't doubt that the book handled that scenario more effectively than the movie. I'm sure the author made it seem more believable too. Being a parent myself, I immediately disliked Anne as a character based on that one decision.

That is a shame because Melissa Anschutz is a great actress with a lot of range, and there are moments when it seems like she's entirely in a different movie. She deserved better than to be in this movie.

I was confused after seeing her outstanding performance while her character was detestable. It wasn't easy to understand how someone could be so good at their craft yet play such an unlikeable character.

The only other central character with significant screen time is DJ Perry's Mark Franklin, one of the writers that Anne represents. I don't want to say much about his character to avoid spoilers, but compared to Melissa Anschutz, it's clear that acting is not his strong suit.

While staying at the cabin, Anne discovered several irregularities, but she kept convincing herself that everything was fine. It's one thing for horny teenagers to ignore the obvious, but it's quite another for a competent, successful adult.

At the movie's end, I didn't care if the protagonist's daughter died. Cruel, but it's true.

The villain's long monologue near the end was so off-putting that I almost stopped watching the movie. Everyone thought the best way to make him seem threatening was to have him scream for fifteen minutes straight.

It's not the best film out there, but it's not terrible, either. I liked the ending. One final scene cannot make up for all the scenes before it.

If you're not a fan of the gore and explicit sexuality common in most adult thrillers, Bestseller might be a good fit for you. However, if you are a fan of the novel or those elements in general, you might want to miss this adaptation.