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
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04/24/09
Deal (2008)
3
%
Tomatometer
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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.
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... [More]
Starring: Burt Reynolds, Bret Harrison, Shannon Elizabeth, Charles Durning
Director: Gil Cates
Reviews for Deal
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.
04/23/08
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
There is more complexity in a sub-par episode of the Teletubbies than in anything to be found in Deal
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
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.
04/24/08
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
There are plenty of movies that prove entertaining despite their familiarity; this isn't one of them.
04/25/08
so gossamer thin that it's hard to feel strongly about it one way or the other
08/18/08
...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
Highly derivative, embarrassingly hollow.
08/08/08
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
A poker movie that has the dubious honor of being even worse than Lucky You.
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
The film has more of a checklist of clichés than an actual script and, when it comes to the cast, director Gil Cates Jr. is scraping the bottom of the barrel.
04/23/08
Deal is perhaps too briskly paced: The narrative moves along a bit too fleetingly for any genuine character development.
04/24/08
Top CriticIt's quite possible that I still would have been bored out of my mind during Deal even if I cared a lick about poker.
04/24/08
There is so little originality here and so much faking it that it hardly justifies critical analysis.
08/15/08
A raft of pros appear as themselves, but this story will likely seem less exciting than an actual competition.
04/25/08
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
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...
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