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
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.
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
As a piece of entertainment, it's like being dealt a pair of twos: You could certainly do worse, but ...
so gossamer thin that it's hard to feel strongly about it one way or the other
There is so little originality here and so much faking it that it hardly justifies critical analysis.
The outcome is never in question, but for fans of the game, even simulated action is preferable to perfunctory drama.
There is more complexity in a sub-par episode of the Teletubbies than in anything to be found in Deal
There are plenty of movies that prove entertaining despite their familiarity; this isn't one of them.
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.
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.
A raft of pros appear as themselves, but this story will likely seem less exciting than an actual competition.
Deal could use a touch of the slickness that's making the blackjack drama 21 such a greasy hit.
Thoroughly predictable in every way including an obvious ending that tries unsuccessfully to bluff the audience, Deal feels fake and trite.
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.
...a movie making a brief stop at local theaters on its way to DVD bargain bins and cable showings at two in the morning.
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."
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.
...with production values akin to a 1940s B-movie, the story is derivative, the acting embarrassing.
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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