so gossamer thin that it's hard to feel strongly about it one way or the other
Comment
08/18/08
Deal (2008)
00 %
Tomatometer
How does the Tomatometer work 
Reviews Counted: 30
Fresh: 0
Rotten:30
Average Rating: 2.7/10
Consensus: Employing multiple cinematic clichés and milking stale performances, Deal proves inadequate for even the lowly regarded poker movie genre.
Runtime: 88 mins
Genre: Dramas
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... [More]
Starring: Burt Reynolds, Bret Harrison, Shannon Elizabeth, Charles Durning
Director: Gil Cates
Reviews for Deal
There is so little originality here and so much faking it that it hardly justifies critical analysis.
08/15/08
The outcome is never in question, but for fans of the game, even simulated action is preferable to perfunctory drama.
08/13/08
There is more complexity in a sub-par episode of the Teletubbies than in anything to be found in Deal
04/25/08
There are plenty of movies that prove entertaining despite their familiarity; this isn't one of them.
04/25/08
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.
04/25/08
Top Critic
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.
04/25/08
A raft of pros appear as themselves, but this story will likely seem less exciting than an actual competition.
04/25/08
Deal could use a touch of the slickness that's making the blackjack drama 21 such a greasy hit.
04/25/08
Thoroughly predictable in every way including an obvious ending that tries unsuccessfully to bluff the audience, Deal feels fake and trite.
04/25/08
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.
04/25/08
...a movie making a brief stop at local theaters on its way to DVD bargain bins and cable showings at two in the morning.
04/25/08
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."
04/24/08
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.
04/24/08
...with production values akin to a 1940s B-movie, the story is derivative, the acting embarrassing.
04/24/08
Cares about poker just a bit more than it cares about the characters, and the movie doesn't give a shit about its characters.
04/24/08
A product of the recent poker craze, this can't compare with the movie that helped launch it, John Dahl's tense Rounders.
04/24/08
Latest News for Deal
March 25, 2008:
Trailer & Poster review 
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Related Forums for Deal
Free movie screenings! 'Deal,' 'Hamlet 2,' 'Harold & Kumar'
by: RottingTomato 4/22
by: RottingTomato 4/22
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