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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
Ultimately, the movie fails to get the viewer into any sort of lather.
Epstein and Kahn might have been better off leaving the assassinations, kidnappings and cliffhangers to Grisham and made a simpler, more realistic movie about a desperate young banker juggling deals and trying to stay afloat.
The subject is intriguing even if the dialogue is stilted and the acting is uneven.
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.
Though torn from tomorrow's political headlines, the story is too convoluted to be either entertaining or comprehensible.
Basically, The Deal looks and sounds a whole lot like a big-budget, feature-length TV commercial for Merrill Lynch.
The cast is up to the challenge to carry something substantial here, but it all becomes a bit too muddled by the end.
There's too much of that inside-baseball talk, and too many ridiculous plot turns that require intelligent people to make really stupid decisions, just so the suspense can be sustained.
Would you put a billion-dollar deal in the hands of Christian Slater?
trips up on translating the language of high stakes finance into intelligible drama
[T]he feeling of concrete, this-ain't-science-fiction reality the film creates is effectively low-key eerie...
This is one hell of a cast and they all do a great job with the piss-poor script.
One and a half cheers for the old college try...[but] The Deal has straight-to-cable written all over it
An attractively packaged political thriller that mixes Wall Street chicanery with mean streets skullduggery.
Works more effectively as a collegiate dissertation than a fictional dissection of people caught in events beyond their control.
| Tomatometer Percentage | Movie |
|---|---|
| 36% 36% | Angels & Demons |
| 25% 25% | Four Christmases |
| 68% 68% | Funny People |
| 95% 95% | Star Trek |
| 14% 14% | The Ugly Truth |
| Tomatometer Percentage | Movie |
|---|---|
| 32% 32% | Terminator Salvation |
| 44% 44% | Night at the Museum: B… |
| 86% 86% | A Christmas Tale |
| 60% 60% | Paper Heart |
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