The Deal (2005)

User Rating:

5.0/10   

Director:

Harvey Kahn

Writer:

Ruth Epstein (written by)

Release Date:

17 June 2005 (USA)

Genre:

Crime | Drama | Thriller

Tagline:

The world is at war.

Plot:

A political thriller steeped in illegal oil trading, the Russian Mafia, and governmental cover-ups. |

Plot Keywords:

Political Thriller | Evil Corporation | Cleaning Lady | Airplane | Board Meeting

Cast

Christian Slater	...	Tom Hanson
Selma Blair	...	Abbey Gallagher
Robert Loggia	...	Jared Tolson
Colm Feore	...	Hank Weiss
Angie Harmon	...	Anna
John Heard	...	Professor Roseman
Kevin Tighe	...	John Cortland
Philip Granger	...	Jerome Halliday
Françoise Yip	...	Janice Long
Jim Thorburn	...	Shane Waller
Paul McGillion	...	Richard Kester
Christine Lippa	...	Lucy Rahlston
Jennifer Clement	...	Sara Kester
Mike Dopud	...	Theo Gorbov
Vyacheslav Vinnik	...	Nicholai Chernoff

MPAA:

Rated R for language and some violence.

Runtime:

USA:107 min | Argentina:108 min

Country:

Canada | USA

Language:

English | Russian

Colour:

Colour

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Certification:

Iceland:16 | USA:R (certificate #41237) | Singapore:NC-16 (cut) | Argentina:13 | Australia:MA

Filming Locations:

Boston, Massachusetts, USA

Company:

Front Street Productions

Quotes:

[from trailer]
Abbey Gallagher: What if there was no oil?

Movie Connections:

References Wall Street (1987)

Soundtrack:

As If It Were Yesterday

"Intrigue Deal" over $6/gallon Gas - We're Already Over Halfway There

THE DEAL was made when the idea of paying $6 per gallon of gas would spark international intrigue: now that we're well over $3.35 per gallon that price seems less than shocking! The concept of showing how big business and the government cover up the absurd under the table Deals such as the one that is the focus of this meager script is now so de rigueur that there is no melodrama or intrigue to this story. One must credit writer Ruth Epstein, director Harvey Kahn, and executive producer/star Christian Slater for caring enough about the chaos oil supplies and their impact on the world at large are causing, but the sad truth is that this tale is so ho-hum in that we all read this very story in the newspaper everyday that it hardly seems to merit a movie.

The cast is sterling - Christian Slater as a Wall Street type, Robert Loggia as the dirty hands dealer type, Selma Blair as the idealist, and Colm Feore, John Heard, Kevin Tighe, etc all try their best to make this flabby script meaningful. The star of the movie is the musical scoring by Christopher Lennertz...and that says a lot. Without an arc of plot line and without a bit of new information about the corruption at the highest levels of this country, this film just doesn't get off the ground. Grady Harp