Literary road movie could use a rewrite

A movie team-up featuring screen veteran Michael Caine and upstart actress Aubrey Plaza could not have been on anyone’s movie bingo card.

The 89-year-old Caine has history, from sublime English classics (Alfie, Get Carter, Sleuth) to ridiculous studio sequels (Beyond the Poseidon Adventure, Jaws: The Revenge). But even his bad movies never quite tarnish his presence in front of the camera.

Aubrey Plaza, who sprung from the network TV realm of Parks and Recreation, is by contrast an indie queen (Safety Not Guaranteed, Black Bear) with an unconventional, darkling appeal.

Plaza plays Lucy Standbridge, a woman struggling to maintain the publishing empire of her elderly father. Facing a buyout by her one-time lover Jack (Scott Speedman), Lucy discovers a contract in which an advance was paid to one Harris Shaw (Caine), once a hotshot novelist who put her dad’s publishing company on the map.

Since Harris is somehow still alive, she confronts the misanthropic author and demands the book owed to her company, some four decades after it was contracted. She also insists that Shaw observe the letter of the contract, going on a book tour to publicize his latest work. Because he is at risk of losing his house, he agrees.

This is a setup for a kind of raucous road movie, with Lucy forced to babysit the alcoholic literary bad boy through a series of bookstore appearances and interviews. Interestingly, it is Harris who appeals to Lucy’s generation. They are delighted by Harris’s rebelliousness — he would rather read a sexy Penthouse Forum letter than a section of his own book — and soon the kids are chanting the author’s catchphrase of “Bullshite!”

Unfortunately, they’re more into buying T-shirts than reading the actual book. Lucy is obliged to come up with a new plan to get Harris onside, and her company viable.

Movies about the literary realm are a hit-and-miss proposition and Best Sellers sadly falls in the latter category. Part of this has to do with the sketchy glimpses into the book itself — titled The Future Is X-Rated. From what we see of it, it’s not a surprise people aren’t willing to plunk down cash for the thing.

Plaza seems to struggle to play a straight role. She has her own history of taking on rebellious or oddball characters, so it’s strange to see her play a careerist publishing scion. She doesn’t quite click in the character, but she doesn’t embarrass herself either.

Canadian director Lina Roessler (also an actor, with a recurring role on Murdoch Mysteries) strikes a weirdly conservative approach to capturing the chaos of the book tour. It leaches the potential for comedy, or at least excitement.

Providing those qualities largely rest on the shoulders of Caine and Plaza, and they do what they can with it.

With Plaza, at least, we can be assured a lot more fine work is in front of her. With Caine, who is, again, 89, we can’t be so sure.

randall.king@freepress.mb.ca

Twitter: @FreepKing