Review by alan_ryder

I liked 'The Best Offer', with Geoffrey Rush, by Giuseppe Tornatore. Rush plays an art auctioneer in Rome, Virgil, a good one for the better art. So he's hired by an agoraphobic, Claire, to appraise the art and furniture in her large, old villa after her parents pass. She's holed up there in a locked section and refuses to come out, but communicates through a knot hole in a door. He has a friend, Robert (Jim Sturgess), an electronics repairman who he asks to help him identify some gears he finds in the house. Virgil also becomes enamored with the young lady, Claire, and he schemes to view her. She also becomes fond of Virgil. Another friend is Billy (Donald Sutherland), and apparently they have a scheme to manipulate the bids on some of the art pieces. Billy and Robert are both Virgil's confidantes. These elements add up to a quite suspenseful tale well told, with the proverbial twist ending, Hitchcock worthy. Quite beautiful to look at also, with some great classic art and beautiful scenery in Rome and elsewhere. Ennio Morricone does the soundtrack music. I understand that Tornatore also made the film 'Cinema Paradiso', a classic I've never seen.