La migliore offerta (Giuseppe Tornatore, 2013)

In Deception, Geoffrey Rush gives a tour de force performance as Virgil Oldman, an idiosyncratic ageing auctioneer who's contacted by a young woman requesting a valuation of her dead parents' antiques and paintings. He accepts begrudgingly after having been bombarded with her pleas, and it then transpires that she's severely agoraphobic and won't allow anyone to see her in person. A heavily Hitchcockian mystery story ensues as he finds himself falling for her and finally letting down his defences against the world.
Rush occupies the role of the truculent, supercilious Oldman effortlessly, making every one of his obsessive quirks real, and Tornatore's direction complements this perfectly. What works less well is some of the dialogue, which at times feels very much the product of stilted translation into a second language, as well as the unexplained and needless decision to film the whole thing in Italy and then fill it with only English-speaking actors without making any reference to the actual location. Also, while the emotional progression of the protagonist is credible, the actual twist denouement is too heavily signposted. It concludes in a frustratingly open-ended manner, which is a pity as it has continuously promised to deliver a concrete point until that moment. But you can't deny Rush or the style either.

6/10