The Best Offer

The Best Offer
Italian theatrical release poster
Directed by	Giuseppe Tornatore
Produced by	Isabella Cocuzza Arturo Paglia
Written by	Giuseppe Tornatore
Starring	Geoffrey Rush Jim Sturgess Sylvia Hoeks Donald Sutherland
Music by	Ennio Morricone
Cinematography	Fabio Zamarion
Edited by	Massimo Quaglia
Production company	Paco Cinematografica Warner Bros.
Distributed by	Warner Bros.
Release dates	1 January 2013 (2013-01-01)
Running time	125 minutes
Country	Italy
Language	English
Budget	$18 million[1]
Box office	$20,489,700[2][3]

The Best Offer (Italian: La migliore offerta - entitled Deception in the UK) is a 2013 Italian English-language romantic mystery film written and directed by Giuseppe Tornatore. The film stars Geoffrey Rush, Jim Sturgess, Sylvia Hoeks, and Donald Sutherland, and the music score is composed by Ennio Morricone.

Synopsis

The film tells a story of love and deceit, set in Europe (Trieste, Bolzano, Fidenza, Rome, Milan, Merano, Vienna, Prague) in the world of ultra high-end art auctions and antiques. The story revolves around Virgil Oldman (Geoffrey Rush), an aging, wealthy, and esteemed, but somewhat standoffish and eccentric, managing director of a preeminent auction house. Oldman is hired by a mysterious young heiress, Claire Ibbetson (Sylvia Hoeks), to auction off the large collection of art and antiques left to her by her parents. Claire always refuses to be seen in person, suffering from severe agoraphobia and never leaving her room. Soon enough Virgil, a life-long bachelor who is able to relate to her reclusiveness, understands that he has fallen in love with her.

An astute young artificer, Robert (Jim Sturgess), aids Oldman in restoring and reassembling some odd mechanical parts that he finds amongst Claire's belongings, while also giving him advice on how to befriend her, and how to deal with his feelings towards her. Oldman's poise and prestige are counterpointed by an ongoing scam whereby his friend Billy Whistler (Donald Sutherland) helps him acquire a large private collection of master portraits worth many millions, by presenting them at auction as the work of other artists. Billy is an aspiring artist himself, but Oldman does not take Billy's work seriously.

A side narrative involves Virgil discovering a moldy, charred piece of wood at another client's mansion. Professional restoration reveals a painting underneath which Virgil claims is the work of a famed 17th-century forger. Virgil notes to these other clients that all forgers are irresistibly tempted to modify the original, which reveals the forger's own artistic sensibilities. At auction, Billy acquires the painting for Virgil for £90,000 while Virgil notes that it was in fact an original worth some £8 million.

Oldman eventually begins a relationship with Ibbetson, compromising his work. At the peak of the relationship, Claire overcomes her fear of the outside world and goes on to live with Virgil, who trusts the fragile Claire enough to show her his secret priceless collection of female portraits. Overcome with emotion, Claire tells Virgil that no matter what may happen to the two of them, she does love him. Virgil returns home one day to find that his entire collection and Claire are gone. In the vault is an automaton constructed from the mechanical parts Virgil gave to Robert, which plays a message from Robert saying there is something real in every forgery and that is why Robert will truly miss Virgil. Virgil realizes that he is the victim of an elaborate fraud conducted by Robert, Claire, and Billy, but is unable to go to the police due to the illicit means by which Virgil himself acquired the pieces. After months of recovering from the betrayal in a mental institution, Virgil takes a trip to Prague, where he spends time sitting in a restaurant that Claire had once suggested, waiting alone at a table wondering if Claire's statement of love was forged or a genuine sentiment she imparted on the con.

Cast

• Geoffrey Rush as Virgil Oldman, prestigious auctioneer
• Jim Sturgess as Robert, tinkerer and mechanical repairman
• Sylvia Hoeks as Claire Ibbetson, reclusive heiress
• Donald Sutherland as Billy Whistler, artist; friend of Virgil's who helps him at auctions
• Philip Jackson as Fred, caretaker of the Ibbetson mansion
• Katie McGovern as art expert
• Dermot Crowley as Lambert (Virgil's main assistant)
• Liya Kebede as Sarah, Robert's girlfriend
• Maximilian Dirr as Virgil's Assistant
• Laurence Belgrave as Virgil's Assistant
• Sean Buchanan as Virgil's Assistant
• Kiruna Stamell as Claire, woman in the bar who keeps count of things
• Anton Alexander as Real Estate Agent
• John Benfield as Barman
• Miles Richardson as Steirereck Maitre
• James Patrick Conway as Steirereck Manager
• Brigitte Christensen as First Daughter

Production

The film was produced by Paco Cinematografica with support from the FVG (Friuli Venezia Giulia) Film Fund. Filming began in Trieste on April 30, 2012. For Tornatore this meant a return to Trieste: it was here he shot La Sconosciuta in 2005, with Xenia Rappoport. Filming took place in a period of five to six weeks in the region of Friuli-Venezia Giulia, Vienna, Prague, and South Tyrol.^[4]

Reception

Critical response

The Best Offer received mixed reviews. On Rotten Tomatoes, the film has a score of 56%, with an average rating of 5.9/10, based on reviews from thirty-two critics.^[5] On Metacritic, the film holds a score of 49 (out of 100), based on reviews from 17 critics, indicating "mixed or average reviews".^[6] Andrew Pulver of The Guardian rated it 2/5 stars and called it "stiff" and "convoluted".^[7] Philippa Hawker of The Age rated it 3/5 stars and called it "handsome, yet austere".^[8] Sandra Hall of the Brisbane Times rated it 4/5 stars and praised Geoffrey Rush's acting.^[9] Deborah Young of The Hollywood Reporter called it "astutely written".^[10] Variety called the film "superficial" and "cliched", but predicted box office success.^[1]

Box office

On the Italian opening weekend, the film grossed $2,496,402 from 373 theaters and debuted at number 2 on the box office chart, behind Mai Stati Uniti. It grossed $12,021,662 domestically and $8,468,038 overseas for a worldwide gross of $20,489,700.^[2][3]

Accolades

References

External links

• Official website (Italian)
• The Best Offer at the Internet Movie Database
• The Best Offer at Rotten Tomatoes
• The Best Offer at AllMovie