The con-film has become a staple of cinema: so much so, that it's almost impossible for a film's makers to retain the element of surprise. One solution is to layer con-upon-con, with a sense of knowningness deliberately induced in the audience: we're encouraged to think that something is happening that hasn't yet been revealed, even if we're not sure what. But 'The Best Offer' takes a simpler route: a man explores a path through life that ultimately turns out to be fake. In one sense, there are very few tricks in this plot, just a mirage. But the film needs to give us two things for this to work: firstly, a plausible emotional journey for the victim, and secondly, a sense of motivation for those who plan to rob him. Yet the film's Gothic story is never remotely plausible: it's entertaining as fable, but there's no chance of us being fooled along with the character; or if there is, it's only because we consciously suspend our disbelief as the necessary price of continuing to watch. As for motive, it's simply to steal the money, which is plausible, but dull (compare Bielisnky's marvellous 'Nine Queens' to see a more believable, internally motivated, and cleverer story which nonetheless ends in a similar denouement). The set designer must have had fun on this movie: the story as a whole is jolly but shallow, and it's more of a disappointment than a joy when it's Gothic accoutrements are revealed as sideshow to a fundamentally duller story.
Review of The Best Offer
