Cares about poker just a bit more than it cares about the characters, and the movie doesn't give a shit about its characters.
Deal (2008)
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... 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
Reviews for Deal
A product of the recent poker craze, this can't compare with the movie that helped launch it, John Dahl's tense Rounders.
Deal is perhaps too briskly paced: The narrative moves along a bit too fleetingly for any genuine character development.
A poker movie that has the dubious honor of being even worse than Lucky You.
Moving slowly these days, Burt Reynolds does less than no acting in this role, and he's still the best thing in Deal.
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.
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.
A movie made solely to promote an internet poker site. You have seen this movie many times before.
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.
It's quite possible that I still would have been bored out of my mind during Deal even if I cared a lick about poker.
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.
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.
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 ![]()
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