Deal could use a touch of the slickness that's making the blackjack drama 21 such a greasy hit.
Deal (2008)
Tomatometer
How does the Tomatometer work ![]()
Reviews Counted:32
Fresh:1
Rotten:31
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
Get This Movie
Reviews for Deal
Thoroughly predictable in every way including an obvious ending that tries unsuccessfully to bluff the audience, Deal feels fake and trite.
As a poker diversion, "Deal" should pass the time, but if you're hoping for a dramatically rewarding piece of filmmaking, your odds are better with a different movie.
A product of the recent poker craze, this can't compare with the movie that helped launch it, John Dahl's tense Rounders.
Moving slowly these days, Burt Reynolds does less than no acting in this role, and he's still the best thing in Deal.
A raft of pros appear as themselves, but this story will likely seem less exciting than an actual competition.
There is so little originality here and so much faking it that it hardly justifies critical analysis.
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.
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.
so gossamer thin that it's hard to feel strongly about it one way or the other
A movie made solely to promote an internet poker site. You have seen this movie many times before.
Deal recycles every nuance of every underdog sports movie -- from Rocky to Rudy to Invincible -- but not well. Burt Reynolds plays a mysterious stranger like he needs a three-year nap.
There is more complexity in a sub-par episode of the Teletubbies than in anything to be found in Deal
Deal is fatally earnest: It honestly believes it’s the first poker film to have a mentor character tell his young protégé that success in cards is similar to success in life.
There are plenty of movies that prove entertaining despite their familiarity; this isn't one of them.
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."
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.
Latest News for Deal
January 21, 2009:
Razzies Name 2008's Worst Movie Nominees
No awards season would be complete without the Golden Raspberry Awards (AKA The Razzies), awarded each year to the very worst movies to hit Hollywood. This year's winners will... More...
March 25, 2008:
Trailer & Poster review ![]()
More...
| Tomatometer Percentage | Movie |
|---|---|
| 66% 66% | Public Enemies |
| 83% 83% | Harry Potter and the H… |
| 44% 44% | Night at the Museum: B… |
| 75% 75% | Julie & Julia |
| 32% 32% | Terminator Salvation |
| Tomatometer Percentage | Movie |
|---|---|
| 88% 88% | Inglourious Basterds |
| 78% 78% | The Hangover |
| 49% 49% | Taking Woodstock |
| 26% 26% | The Goods: Live Hard, Sell Hard |
| 47% 47% | The Girl From Monaco |
RT On Current TV
DIRECTV 358 | Comcast 107 | DISH Network 196 | More...
What’s Hot On RT
Other News
CloseSponsored Links
Fresh Links
Featured

Take a look at MSN's choices for the Top 10 films of 2009.

Last week, Moviefone offered us their worst films of the 2000s. Now see their 40 best!

Hollywood.com explores why QT's characters resonate so well with audiences.

The Me and Orson Welles star answers reader questions on TIME.com.

Click through to see which movies BuzzSugar placed in their Best-of-Decade list!
Promos

Get the latest Tomatometer updates on upcoming movies!



Top Critic



