Best Seller
John Flynn (US, 1987, 110 min.)
In this mid-eighties thriller, Brian Dennehy stars as Dennis Meechum (no relation), a cop and writer who is approached by Cleve (James Woods), a hit man who wants Dennis to pen a story about the Mob with Cleve's help. Along the way, they find themselves the targets of those same mobsters, who try to keep the duo silent.
As Dennis and Cleve take a cab across town, the cab driver gets out and runs into a store for a moment. The pair notice their driver doesn't seem to be coming back, and they quickly exit the cab, which promptly explodes. They chase the cabbie through some alleyways and into an arcade, where they seem to lose the trail. As they pass a photobooth, they spot his feet below the curtain, and draw the curtain back for an interrogation.
Thanks to Gary for the tip on this movie.
Contributed by Brian
The cabbie's feet seen below the curtain.
Cleve draws the curtain back.
Dennis and Cleve look in on their prey.
The cab driver (E. Brian Dean), looking a little uncomfortable.
Cleve shows the taxi driver how he feels.
Dennis looks away as Cleve deals with the situation.
The cabbie catches his breath, having dodged a veritable bullet.
Their work done, they close the curtain.
Cleve makes sure the curtain is closed...
...and walks away.
Cleve and Dennis go outside, and start to get into another cab. Dennis gets in, but Cleve decides to head back inside. Then the scene cuts, and we see the coin slot on the inside of the photobooth.
A hand puts a quarter in the machine, but we don't know exactly what's going on.
As the flashes go off, we see the booth from the outside.
Cleve exits the booth, drawing the curtain behind him.
He straightens his tie in a very James Woods-y sort of way.
The camera closes in on the drying slot.
A strip of four photos drops out, and something doesn't look quite right.
As we get at closer look, it become apparent in the (fake) photos that Cleve wasn't satisfied leaving the cabbie alone, and came back to finish him off, with photographic proof left behind for the mobsters who hired him.
The second frame.
The third, as Cleve finishes the job.
And the last, as Cleve has left the booth. Too bad these photos, in addition to being faked photobooth photos, aren't the same ones we see in the drying slot in the previous shot.
