Review of The Best Offer (2013) by Dustin G — 30 Apr 2016

It's been 24 hours since I've seen this film and I fear it might drift through my mind every time I see a woman's portrait. Virgil played by Rush is a self-made man. He runs an exclusive auction house. His world is controlled, regimented, and sterile. He's never made love to a woman. Not since he was a child enjoyed the tactile sensations from touching objects, as he always wears gloves. Only to gentle stroke the brush strokes of a painting does he take them off. His home is part museum, part villa, and as he himself says, 'more like a hotel'. He is also somewhat of a con man. Probably too harsh a word, but at times when he sees a particular painting he wants, he tells patrons their paintings are forgeries. When in fact they are real. He does this to drive the price down so he can acquire them and tuck them into a vault where the portraits of women look down upon him adoringly.

Virgil receives a call from Claire Ibbetson requesting he evaluate the artwork in her villa. Her parents are dead and she needs to sell the items. Virgil does not meet with the public, but there is something in her voice which intrigues him. She doesn't show and he's left standing in a rain storm outside the boarded up villa. When she calls again, he's enraged, but she once again intrigues him. As the story enfolds we learn she never leaves the villa. She's afraid of face-to-face interaction.

One step at a time, Virgil helps Claire enter the world, and in the process Virgil learns what love is. Unfortunately, all is not how it appears.

I don't want to spoil anything, so I will stop here. I will say that in the end I think Virgil, at least for a while, truly lived.