Best Seller

Play trailer

Best Seller

R,

1987,

1h 32m,

Crime/

Drama

Play Trailer

Watchlist

Watchlist

71%

17 Reviews

Tomatometer

56%

1,000+ Ratings

Popcornmeter

71%

Tomatometer

17 Reviews

56%

Popcornmeter

1,000+ Ratings

Police detective and successful author Dennis Meechum has not been able to write since his wife's death and owes an overdue manuscript to the publisher. When corporate hit man Cleve proposes his life story as a book, Meechum suspects he is a fraud. However, Cleve has proof of his hits for executive David Madlock. While this convinces Meechum, it also endangers his daughter, whom Madlock kidnaps to stop the story from coming out.

Scott Tobias

The Dissolve

Mar 30, 2015

3/5

Best Seller wouldn't amount to much without Woods' foul, sadistic, gleefully profane edge.

Go to Full Review

Roger Ebert

Chicago Sun-Times

Jan 1, 2000

1/4

The problem is that Best Seller is light on plot, real light. It doesn't have a compelling story at its center, only the original inspiration of the best-selling cop and the killer who wants to talk.

Go to Full Review

David Nusair

Reel Film Reviews

May 18, 2025

3/4

...a deliberately-paced endeavor that benefits from its assortment of agreeable attributes and elements...

Go to Full Review

Matt Brunson

Film Frenzy

Jul 10, 2023

2.5/4

Two compelling lead performances charge this otherwise sloppy crime procedural.

Go to Full Review

Ángel Fernández-Santos

El Pais (Spain)

Apr 1, 2020

Best Seller is an intelligent and intuitive movie. [Full Review in Spanish]

Go to Full Review

Sean Axmaker

Stream on Demand

May 22, 2016

[Larry] Cohen cannily mixes social satire and genre twists in his clever screenplay of an unlikely friendship between two men with more history than they realize...

Go to Full Review

Read all reviews

Luke S

Apr 11, 2019

A taut, darkly comic page-turner that satirizes the buddy cop genre by magnifying the dialectic between the law and criminality, simultaneously bolstered by Woods' compelling gleefully glib performance and hampered by the belated realization that his desperate sadism was hardly a performance whatsoever.

See more

Finn M

Mar 21, 2017

Worth it to watch Woods and Dennehy. Woods is great in the role, and his relationship with Dennehy makes the film.

Read all reviews

John Flynn

Director

James Woods

Cleve

Brian Dennehy

Dennis Meechum

Victoria Tennant

Roberta Gillian

Allison Balson

Holly Meechum

Paul Shenar

David Madlock

The Mean Season

64%

33%

The Mean Season

Watchlist

Diabolique

23%

35%

Diabolique

Watchlist

Inferno

20%

27%

Inferno

Watchlist

The Don Is Dead

60%

25%

The Don Is Dead

Watchlist

Renegades

33%

28%

Renegades

Watchlist

Discover more movies and TV shows.

View More

View more photos

Synopsis

Police detective and successful author Dennis Meechum has not been able to write since his wife's death and owes an overdue manuscript to the publisher. When corporate hit man Cleve proposes his life story as a book, Meechum suspects he is a fraud. However, Cleve has proof of his hits for executive David Madlock. While this convinces Meechum, it also endangers his daughter, whom Madlock kidnaps to stop the story from coming out.

Director: John Flynn
Producer: Carter DeHaven
Screenwriter: Larry Cohen
Production Co: Hemdale Studios
Rating: R
Genre: Crime, Drama
Original Language: English
Release Date (Theaters): Sep 25, 1987, Limited
Release Date (Streaming): Nov 30, 2016
Box Office (Gross USA): $2.9M
Runtime: 1h 32m

Join The Newsletter

Join The Newsletter

Cookie Settings