A riveting thriller full of good scares and learned, muckraking insight into the global labyrinth of oil and politics.
The Deal (2005)
Tomatometer
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Reviews Counted:34
Fresh:7
Rotten:27
Average Rating:4.5/10
Theatrical Release:Jun 17, 2005 Limited
Synopsis: Mired in a war in the Middle East, the US is seized by the worst oil shortage in history. Gas prices skyrocket, further weakening an already faltering economy. Wall Street is hobbled by corruption.... Mired in a war in the Middle East, the US is seized by the worst oil shortage in history. Gas prices skyrocket, further weakening an already faltering economy. Wall Street is hobbled by corruption. The nation is on edge. Against this chaos, Wall Street big shot TOM HANSEN, is shocked to learn of the death of his best friend RICHARD KESTER, a top executive for one of the nation's leading oil companies - Condor. But when he's approached by Richard's boss, JARED TOLSEN, to advise on a big oil merger his friend was working on, he jumps at the chance to kickstart his faltering career. At the same time idealistic business school graduate ABBEY GALLAGHER is convinced by Tom to join his prestigious investment bank to work on a deal that promotes alternative energy use. Tom finds himself unexpectedly drawn to Abbey's energy and enthusiasm, qualities long since lost in him. Sexual tension builds and they embark on a risky love affair. Tom starts researching the Condor deal. The merger target is Black Star, a Russian oil company. Tom soon discovers that things are not as they should be. Black Star's oil regions are dry yet they still manage to deliver scarce oil to the US. Digging deeper, Tom begins to uncover a global conspiracy of illegal oil trafficking, governmental cover-ups and murder. Tom receives threats. He's forced to distance himself from Abbey to protect her. Believing he may be involved in something illegal, Abbey begins her own investigation leading to her kidnap by the Russian mafia when she too learns too much. With the clock ticking, Tom has to put his career, his reputation and even his life in jeopardy to protect Abbey and expose the truth about the deal. --© Myriad Pictures [More]
Starring: Christian Slater, Selma Blair, John Heard, Angie Harmon
Starring: Christian Slater, Selma Blair, John Heard, Angie Harmon
Director: Harvey Kahn
Director: Harvey Kahn
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Reviews for The Deal
An attractively packaged political thriller that mixes Wall Street chicanery with mean streets skullduggery.
[T]he feeling of concrete, this-ain't-science-fiction reality the film creates is effectively low-key eerie...
The elaborate suspense revolving around the toxic mix of oil, money and politics that the media only ever seems to brush the surface, makes for heady viewing.
Works more effectively as a collegiate dissertation than a fictional dissection of people caught in events beyond their control.
The cast is up to the challenge to carry something substantial here, but it all becomes a bit too muddled by the end.
A dialogue-heavy affair that, while overly complicated, turns out to be pretty predictable in the end.
The subject is intriguing even if the dialogue is stilted and the acting is uneven.
Intrigue comes in the form of Skinemax lovemaking, bad Russian accents, and the lamest car chase in the history of cinema.
This is one hell of a cast and they all do a great job with the piss-poor script.
Though torn from tomorrow's political headlines, the story is too convoluted to be either entertaining or comprehensible.
Full of dizzying technical detail that only those in mergers-and-acquisitions may fully appreciate.
Most of the action takes place in board meetings, with characters handing each other secret memos or talking on the phone; it's a shockingly non-visual movie.
Surprisingly cogent in its political analysis for much of the way, The Deal falters with a halfhearted endorsement of incremental reform, proving not quite to have the courage of its own cynicism.
trips up on translating the language of high stakes finance into intelligible drama
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