To Be the Best

For those who have relished the first two installments of Barbara Taylor Bradford's beloved Emma Harte trilogy, To Be the Best offers a satisfying close to the story. Viewers should begin with A Woman of Substance, in which Emma, determined to ruin the upper-class family who wronged her, achieves her dream of becoming one of the richest women in the world. Next is Hold the Dream, in which Emma's granddaughter Paula inherits her retail empire and struggles to find balance between her high-powered business dealings and her longing for romance. Finally, in the close of the trilogy, To Be the Best, Paula (Lindsay Wagner) comes into her own as a woman, mother, wife, and businesswoman. While not as captivating as the first parts of the trilogy, To Be the Best has its strengths, including a standout performance from Academy Award® winner Anthony Hopkins, who plays Paula's chief of security. Thanks to Hopkins's performance, what might otherwise have seemed like a long-lost episode of Dynasty is also part espionage thriller. As Paula gets inveigled into a series of compromising business situations in Hong Kong, it is her dapper and debonair chief of security who repeatedly saves the day. --Tara Chace