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Movies / On DVD / Deal
Deal

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Deal (2008)

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Reviews Counted: 31

Fresh: 1

Rotten:30

Average Rating: 2.9/10

Consensus: Employing multiple cinematic clichés and milking stale performances, Deal proves inadequate for even the lowly regarded poker movie genre.

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

Runtime: 88 mins

Genre: Dramas

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... 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]

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

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

Director: Gil Cates

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

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Release:

Aug 19, 2008

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Reviews for Deal

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1 - 20 (sorted by date)
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It's not the cards you play but the people . . . which is why poker movies (in this case Texas Hold'em) are far more interesting than many sports movies

Full Review Source: Urban Cinefile | comment Comment
04/24/09
Andrew L. Urban
Urban Cinefile

so gossamer thin that it's hard to feel strongly about it one way or the other

Full Review Source: Filmcritic.com | comment Comment
08/18/08
Christopher Null
Filmcritic.com

There is so little originality here and so much faking it that it hardly justifies critical analysis.

Full Review Source: Cinema Signals | comment Comment
08/15/08
Jules Brenner
Cinema Signals

The outcome is never in question, but for fans of the game, even simulated action is preferable to perfunctory drama.

Full Review Source: San Francisco Examiner | comment Comment
08/13/08
Rossiter Drake
San Francisco Examiner

Highly derivative, embarrassingly hollow.

Full Review Source: DVDTalk.com | comment Comment
08/08/08
David Cornelius
DVDTalk.com

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

Full Review Source: Ebert & Roeper | comment Comment
04/28/08
Richard Roeper
Ebert & Roeper
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

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

Full Review Source: Killer Movie Reviews | comment Comment
04/25/08
Andrea Chase
Killer Movie Reviews

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

Full Review Source: Las Vegas Review-Journal | comment Comment
04/25/08
Carol Cling
Las Vegas Review-Journal

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 Source: Los Angeles Times | comment Comment
04/25/08
Mark Olsen
Los Angeles Times
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

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

Full Review Source: Hollywood Reporter | comment Comment
04/25/08
Michael Rechtshaffen
Hollywood Reporter
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

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 Source: E! Online | comment Comment
04/25/08
Alex Markerson
E! Online

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

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

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

Full Review Source: Boston Globe | comment Comment
04/25/08
Wesley Morris
Boston Globe
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

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

Full Review Source: Boxoffice Magazine | comment Comment
04/25/08
Pete Hammond
Boxoffice Magazine

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 Source: The Deadbolt | comment Comment
04/25/08
Brian Tallerico
The Deadbolt

...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 Source: Worcester Telegram & Gazette | comment Comment
04/25/08
Daniel M. Kimmel
Worcester Telegram & Gazette

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 Source: Los Angeles CityBeat | comment Comment
04/24/08
Andy Klein
Los Angeles CityBeat

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 Source: eFilmCritic.com | comment Comment
04/24/08
Erik Childress
eFilmCritic.com

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

Full Review Source: Tolucan Times | comment Comment
04/24/08
Tony Medley
Tolucan Times

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 Source: UR Chicago Magazine | comment Comment
04/24/08
Mark Dujsik
UR Chicago Magazine
 
 
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