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Deal

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Deal (2008)

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37%
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Reviews Counted: 26 Fresh: 0  Rotten:26 Average Rating: 2.6/10
 
Consensus: Employing multiple cinematic clichés and milking stale performances, Deal proves inadequate for even the lowly regarded poker movie genre.
 

How does the Tomatometer work?

The Tomatometer measures the percentage of positive reviews from Approved Tomatometer Critics for a certain movie.[-]

Rated: PG-13 [See Full Rating] for language, sexual content and brief drug use

Runtime: 88 mins

Theatrical Release: Apr 25, 2008 Limited

Synopsis: Set against the world of high stakes poker, DEAL follows the story of TOMMY VINSON (Burt Reynolds), an ex-gambler who quit the game of Texas Hold'em over 30 years ago after missing a family emergency and swearing to his wife, HELEN, "never again". Tommy tries to be content with his luggage... Set against the world of high stakes poker, DEAL follows the story of TOMMY VINSON (Burt Reynolds), an ex-gambler who quit the game of Texas Hold'em over 30 years ago after missing a family emergency and swearing to his wife, HELEN, "never again". Tommy tries to be content with his luggage business but while watching a poker tournament on television, he sees someone who reminds him of his younger self, ALEX STILLMAN (Bret Harrison). Alex is a cocky, hotshot card playing senior at Yale University. He is the best player there. Alex's parents would like him to go to law school, but Alex only dreams of playing professional poker, like the icons he sees on TV. After winning an on-line event that places him in the televised game, Alex loses early. He's close to greatness, but what he doesn't realize yet is that he focuses too much on the cards, and not the players...that's where Tommy comes in. Tommy finds Alex and makes a pact with him: he'll front Alex the high priced entry fees to all the major tournaments if Alex plays the way that Tommy wants him to. Alex resists at first, but after seeing Tommy make some impressive calls while watching a poker game together, Alex changes his mind and they partner. Alex's parents are sick about it, and Helen, Tommy's wife, is concerned that her husband will get sucked back into the game that took him away once before. Tommy promises Helen that this will not happen because he's not the one playing, Alex is. But after Tommy and Alex have a falling out over a local Las Vegas call girl that Tommy arranged to meet Alex and whom Alex has developed feelings for, things change, and everything is off. Tommy, who's now got the appetite back for the game and a hunger to be acknowledged as the best, enters the final tournament of the poker season and ends up facing Alex, his protege, in the finals of the world series of poker. And what happens there, even though only one will be declared champion, leaves them both winners. --© MGM [More]

Genre: Dramas

Starring: Burt Reynolds, Bret Harrison, Shannon Elizabeth, Charles Durning, Jennifer Tilly

Director: Gil Cates
Screenwriter: Gil Cates, Marc Weinstock
Producer: Michael Amato, Steve Austin, Marc Weinstock
Composer: Peter Rafelson

Reviews

 
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Ratings Image
N/A

They’ve got to do something else with these poker movies.

Full Review | comment Comment
04/28/08
Richard Roeper
Ebert & Roeper
Top Critic Icon Top Critic
Ratings Image
0/5

There is more complexity in a sub-par episode of the Teletubbies than in anything to be found in Deal

Full Review | comment Comment
04/25/08
Andrea Chase
Killer Movie Reviews
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C-

There are plenty of movies that prove entertaining despite their familiarity; this isn't one of them.

Full Review | comment Comment
04/25/08
Carol Cling
Las Vegas Review-Journal
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1/5

Reynolds doesn't convey any of the lightning bolt insouciance that made him arguably the greatest movie star of the '70s and '80s (really) but rather just stands there.

Full Review | comment Comment
04/25/08
Mark Olsen
Los Angeles Times
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N/A

Success isn't in the cards for this plodding poker drama.

Full Review | comment Comment
04/25/08
Michael Rechtshaffen
Hollywood Reporter
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D-

You've got to know when to walk away from a movie like this: right away, and that's only if you can't run.

Full Review | comment Comment
04/25/08
Alex Markerson
E! Online
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N/A

A raft of pros appear as themselves, but this story will likely seem less exciting than an actual competition.

Full Review | comment Comment
04/25/08
M. K. Terrell
Christian Science Monitor
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N/A

Deal could use a touch of the slickness that's making the blackjack drama 21 such a greasy hit.

Full Review | comment Comment
04/25/08
Wesley Morris
Boston Globe
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1.5/5

Thoroughly predictable in every way including an obvious ending that tries unsuccessfully to bluff the audience, Deal feels fake and trite.

Full Review | comment Comment
04/25/08
Pete Hammond
Boxoffice Magazine
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N/A

About now is when a critic would throw in a reference to a low poker hand to compare it to, but Deal can't even rise to a pair of twos.

Full Review | comment Comment
04/25/08
Brian Tallerico
The Deadbolt
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1.5/4

...a movie making a brief stop at local theaters on its way to DVD bargain bins and cable showings at two in the morning.

Full Review | comment Comment
04/25/08
Daniel M. Kimmel
Worcester Telegram & Gazette
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N/A

Director/co-writer Gil Cates Jr. gives us a by-the-numbers execution of a by-the-numbers story, which would barely be movie-of-the-week material but for [Burt] Reynolds's "star power."

Full Review | comment Comment
04/24/08
Andy Klein
Los Angeles CityBeat
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0.5/4

Deal has to take the title of the worst film ever about the game and that includes the how-to videos with Joan Rivers impersonators you see in your Vegas hotel room.

Full Review | comment Comment
04/24/08
Erik Childress
eFilmCritic.com
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3/10

...with production values akin to a 1940s B-movie, the story is derivative, the acting embarrassing.

Full Review | comment Comment
04/24/08
Tony Medley
Tolucan Times
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1.5/5

Cares about poker just a bit more than it cares about the characters, and the movie doesn't give a shit about its characters.

Full Review | comment Comment
04/24/08
Mark Dujsik
UR Chicago Magazine
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N/A

A product of the recent poker craze, this can't compare with the movie that helped launch it, John Dahl's tense Rounders.

Full Review | comment Comment
04/24/08
J. R. Jones
Chicago Reader
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N/A

Deal is perhaps too briskly paced: The narrative moves along a bit too fleetingly for any genuine character development.

Full Review | comment Comment
04/24/08
John Anderson
Variety
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D

A poker movie that has the dubious honor of being even worse than Lucky You.

Full Review | comment Comment
04/24/08
Gary Thompson
Philadelphia Daily News
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1.5/4

Moving slowly these days, Burt Reynolds does less than no acting in this role, and he's still the best thing in Deal.

Full Review | comment Comment
04/24/08
Michael Phillips
Chicago Tribune
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1/5

In terms of cashing in on poker mania, Deal is so late to the party that it's actually late to the apartment where the guy who threw the party used to live.

Full Review | comment Comment
04/24/08
Matt Pais
Metromix.com
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