Deal – DVD Review

Burt Reynolds must really be behind in his mortgage payments lately, or his Smokey and the Bandit money ran out recently. That’s about the only explanation for Deal, another film on a growing list of excessively dumb movies that Reynolds has starred in.

Deal is essentially Two for the Money without the heart or good acting. The film follows the story of a washed up gambler (Reynolds) who mentors a young poker whiz (Bret Harrison). When a beautiful woman (Shannon Elizabeth) comes between them, their relationship is changed forever. Throw in a big showdown at the end and you have trite film about the master-student relationship. Except this one kind of sucks. Not really kind of. It’s awful.

Deal has the same plot twist that Two for the Money uses involving a girl as a confidence boosting activity, and the cost therein, and the film is virtually a copy of it designed to take advantage of poker’s resurgence in the same way Two for the Money was designed to try and capitalize on the resurgence of football gambling. Except Two for the Money had one of history’s great actors and another that was good enough to keep up, as well as one of the more underrated actresses of her generation. Deal stars a washed up 1970s star (Reynolds), a TV actor (Harrison) and an actress whose career peaked when she appeared virtually naked in American Pie.

With insipid dialogue and a boring story, culminating in a finale so obvious a blind man could see it, Deal is a waste of time for everybody involved.

Presented in a widescreen format with a Dolby Digital presentation, the film at least looks good. With lots of montage shots of various gambling headquarters, including Las Vegas, the film has a great presentation.

Pokerstars Presents Winning Big at Texas Hold’Em with Isabelle Mercier and Greg Raymer is the film’s only feature on the DVD. With two world class poker players in Mercier and Raymer, it’s a quick tutorial on the subject of Texas Hold’Em Poker. Walking us through two of their more memorable hands, it’s a quick look at the game feature in the film.

There is also the trailer for Street Kings attached to the film.

For a waste of your money, Deal is it for those interested in bad films. For everyone else, recommendation to avoid at all costs.

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MGM presents Deal. Directed by Gil Cates Jr. Starring Burt Reynolds, Bret Harrison, Shannon Elizabeth, Jennifer Tilly. Written by Gil Cates Jr, and Mark Weinstock. Running time: 85 minutes. Rated PG-13. Released on DVD: August 19, 2008. Available at Amazon.com.