The Deal (I) (2008) User Reviews

Funny Movie on a Movie

[wmjaho · 7/10 · 23 January 2008]

The Deal is a wacky and frenetic Hollywood insider movie about a movie, in the spirit of Altman's The Player or Mamet's State and Main. Written by and starring the extremely talented William H. Macy and directed by his long-time friend and veteran TV movie director Steven Schachter, The Deal is part vanity piece, part industry insider self-indulgence and wholly funny.

Macy plays Charlie Berns, a one-hit wonder Hollywood producer with no money and no prospects and on the verge of suicide. Interrupting his plans is his nephew Lionel (Jason Ritter), who knocks on his door at the propitious moment, carrying his script about Benjamin Disraeli and looking for Uncle Charlie's help in Hollywood. Ignoring the script, Charlie returns to his morbid task, only to spot an article about a blockbuster action-hero movie star (L.L. Cool J) who has recently converted to Judaism and is looking for a Jewish film for his next project. Seeing a glimmer of hope, Charlie hatches an outrageous seat-of-your-pants scheme to coerce a studio into approving this preposterous pairing. Assigned to the project is Diedre Hearn, a second-tier studio exec (played by Meg Ryan, still trying to transition from her girl-next-door pedigree). Charlie is smitten, and resurrected, "Ben Disraeli – Freedom Fighter" gets green-lighted and the fun begins. There's even a role for Elliott Gould, playing a rabbi who serves as a technical adviser and "Assistant Producer" to the film! I guess Macy decided that at 57 if he was ever going to play a leading man, he was going to have to personally drive the project. And he has written himself a plum role—a multi-dimensional character with a lot of funny lines and Meg Ryan as a love interest! Charlie Berns has suffered all the indignities that Hollywood can dish out. But he's learned enough tricks, and developed enough chutzpah that with a little luck he can really work the system. Macy plays the role with unflappable charm and impeccable comic timing.

The script bounces around a bit, and probably bounces a couple of times too many. The "resolution" feels a little like an add-on, and perhaps could have been left out. So while I doubt this movie will do great things at the box office, it certainly entertained the Sundance crowd.

Sundance Moment: Macy told the long story of how difficult it was to get the project funded, which is a recurring Sundance (and Hollywood) theme. They passed out red yarmulkas to the crowd, and many wore them while watching the movie.

Good actors, weak plot.

[deloudelouvain · 5/10 · 27 March 2020]

Before watching The Deal I read some positive reviews from over excited people, thought I was going to be in for a treat, certainly with William H. Macy and Meg Ryan in the cast, two actors that I appreciate, but in the end it was just disappointing. The acting was good though, but the story is just a bit boring. And it's not the couple comedy scenes that were going to save this picture. I wished I liked it more but I didn't, I was actually glad when I saw the end credits appear, felt like a three hour movie instead of half that time.

clever satire on making movies

[jaybob · 7/10 · 23 January 2009]

There have been many films about making movies,some serious,some funny, many were satires. The Deal is a satire, but with a slightly different slant. I will not give away the clever twist, except to say,It is impossible to imagine the concept of a Black action movie hero playing British Prime Minister Benjamin Disreali,with the blessings of an on set Rabbi.. This is just the first part of the craziness..

LL Cool J-is the actor playing Disreali & believe it or not this comes across as fun & not offensive. Cool J is a gifted actor.

The crazy screenplay was written by Wm H Macy,who is also the star of the film, & Steven Schachter. who also directed.

Movies today have many types of producers, Macy & Meg Ryan are the 2 involved with the day to day shooting. They also fall in love.

Elliot Gould is the on set Rabbi, and his comic timing is as usual perfect.

Jason Ritter as the writer of the play is a fine comic like his late Dad.

All the acting is first rate. The film runs fast, Comic, farce satires should run fast, the audience is not to be allowed time to think how silly the story really is.

Location shooting was in Prague & South Africa.

NOTE: this is not a great movie, it was shown at various festivals & Sundance last year & now on DVD. It id however pure fun.

Ratings: *** (out of 4) 81 points (out of 100) IMDb 7 (out of 10)

Wanted So Much To Love This Movie...But

[Temprock14 · 6/10 · 6 April 2008]

Saw it last night (April 5th) at Philly Film Festival. Mr. Macy, Jason Ritter and Fiona Glascott were all present and were gracious to the max.

This film was clearly a labor of love and had a very difficult "birthing". But it never connected with me in any significant way (especially the "quasi-insider making of a movie" road it took us down).

Macy as ALWAYS is magnificent. Meg Ryan is...well Meg Ryan and that is NOT all things bad. I think Jason Ritter has a great future in the business (and did fine work in the late and very lamented TV Show Joan of Arcadia too).

But I thought the plot as far as I could discern it was both muddled and totally unbelievable. I know it made sense to folks more in tune with things that could go right/wrong/changes of direction in getting a film greenlighted and made.But I'm far from an insider so the references were quite lost on me for the most part.

To me it doesn't quite make it as satire (or I didn't get it) and not funny enough to be a sustained comedy.

But I truly hope it is just me and this film gets an audience and makes $$ for those (especially Mr. Macy) who put their heart, soul and funds into its making.

a satire of what it takes to make a movie, and probably not that far off

[blanche-2 · 7/10 · 13 September 2014]

Bill Macy, Meg Ryan, Elliot Gould, and LL Cool J star in "The Deal" from 2008, directed by Steven Schachter and written by Macy and Schacter.

Macy plays another loser, this time Charlie Berns, who has a couple of producer credits on his resume, but they're not recent, and he can't get arrested. His nephew (Jason Ritter) gives him his script about Benjamin Disraeli to read. He's not interested in it but then he sees an article about a major star in adventure films, Bobby Mason (LL Cool J) who has converted to Judaism and wants to do a film with a Jewish theme for his next project.

Charlie manages to convince a studio that he has Bobby Mason's next kick your butt film and a studio executive, Deidre (Meg Ryan) is assigned to make it happen. Soon "Bill & Ben" is being filmed, with Berns' heartbroken nephew screaming, "There's not one word of my script in this." Then Bobby Mason is kidnapped and held for ransom, and the studio doesn't want to pay. But Deidre has an idea.

We've seen these behind the scenes getting a movie made before, and this is absurd but quite good. And how absurd is it? Probably not far off. Macy is excellent as Berns, who has been around the block a few times and knows how to talk his way into and out of trouble. This movie took a while to get made, so there's no doubt Macy knew what he was talking about when he wrote the script - I'm sure it wasn't a new experience for him.

Ryan's role could have been played by anyone, but at 47 and once the ingénue du jour (as Rene Zwelleger, Reese Witherspoon, Julia Roberts, Susan Sarandon, and Sally Field once were), she has a problem. While leading men are leading men from the time they're in their twenties until death, pert, pretty young actresses have a limited shelf life, and the transition to lead woman not only is difficult, it's often not even worth it since that doesn't last long either. Today things are much better -- at least 30 is no longer the cut-off like it was in Bette Davis' day -- but the fact remains, unless your name is Meryl Streep, you'll be in character roles by the time you're 55. If you have a job. So I can't blame her for doing this role.

Good, enjoyable movie, especially if you're a writer and know what happens to scripts in Hollywood.

B O R I N G.

[itmeansflower · 2/10 · 30 July 2020]

I discovered this movie by accident today. Just scrolling through suggestions on Prime, and there it was. And I thought Oh! A Meg Ryan film I'm not familiar with?! And William H. Macy too! Now, the fact that I've never heard of it did give me pause, but I thought it was worth a shot with the two of them in the leads. I barely (and I do mean BARELY) made it through the first half hour. It's just so SOOOOOOO bad. So boring. I have much better things to do than sit through drivel like this. - And so do you!

A comedic yet accurate portrayal of just how rough the biz can be.

[achc · 7/10 · 21 January 2009]

The Deal is a terrifyingly accurate portrayal of cut-throat Hollywood. Williams H Macy stars as a producer on a relentless pursuit of getting his movie made. Meg Ryan co-stars as a studio head in this dry comedy. William H Macy can do more than just act. HE CAN WRITE! He transcends his normal boundaries of story-telling as a stunning character actor, to bringing charters alive from the page. He is charming and brings the whole idea of "delightful destruction" to his character while mocking the Hollywood film industry. If you like Meg Ryan then you will not be disappointed with this film. She brings the Meg Ryan we know and love to this character. LL Cool J also stars as a Jewish action star in this comedy that you will not want to miss!

How To Make a Movie.

[rmax304823 · 5/10 · 16 November 2009]

Every once in a while another movie about movies comes out -- metamovies. Truffaut's "Day For Night" was pretty good. "Bowfinger" had its moments. "The Deal" ought to be the comedy that it strives so hard to be but doesn't quite make it.

Producers William Macy and Meg Ryan hire an Israeli director to make an action movie that was originally written as a biography of Benjamin Disraeli. The picture is to be shot in South Africa. There are myriad subsidiary characters I won't bother to name or describe.

The action hero, a kind of black, Jewish Rambo, is kidnapped by an extremist political group and the studio tells Macy and Ryan to "shut it down and salvage what you can." They take this to mean they can move to Prague, where the studio has some frozen money, and revert to the original script about Disraeli.

Granted it doesn't sound too funny and it's not. That's a shame in a way because they've got some talent in front of the camera, and not just high-end stars like Macy and Ryan.

But the script, by Macy and Schachter, is weak, in that it's deficient in laughs, or smiles even, and there aren't any characters to particularly care about.

The direction and editing need some seasoning. There are too many cutaway shots to spectators gaping open-mouthed at the goings on. Some gags depend on the viewer's knowledge of the rudiments of Judaism. A book is entitled "The Complete Idiot's Guide to the Talmud." I don't know that, even today, the casual viewer in America's Heartland is going to get a joke like that, or like the director's insistence that everyone on the set wear a yarmulkah. They'll go over well on the Coasts.

I got the gags but didn't find them too amusing. The film simply ambles along with characters making shocking statements or doing outrageous things mostly in deadpan. It's confusing too. When the film within the film finally wrapped, it came as a surprise to me because I didn't know the production was that far along.

It's not an insulting movie in any way, it's just not what it was intended to be. Too bad. "State and Main" is funnier.

Deal Me In

[writers_reign · 14 November 2011]

One of the snags with the 'seven basic plots' syndrome is that although it IS possible to isolate and identify seven disparate strings in the fabric of world literature in many instances there is more than one present in a given story and/or elements within plots turn up right across the spectrum. So it is here with yet another take on Shakespeare's Benedek and Beatrice (Much Ado About Nothing), the two people who start out loathing each other and wind up in the sack. Yet that is only one element, albeit at the forefront, of this delightful satire on movie making Hollywood style. Never mind that the movie business is now beyond satire given that nothing a satirist can devise hasn't been or is being done in Hollywood even as the satirist's words strike the computer screen, this is a vastly entertaining film in which the ridiculous - and how about Benjamin Disraeli as a black Jewish freedom fighter - truly is sublime. Double-threat William H. Macey co-wrote the screenplay and stars as a perennial loser who finally, against both the odds and the run of play hits one out of the park. Meg Ryan is Beatrice to his Benedek and also delivers a fine performance. It's a crying shame that after being screened at Sundance this went straight to DVD but with luck it will find the audience it deserves.

Here's the deal, this zany movie has its moments

[inkblot11 · 7/10 · 13 June 2014]

Charlie (William H Macy) is a Hollywood producer who hasn't had many hits lately. Happily, his nephew (Jason Ritter) has written a wonderful script about the British Statesman Benjamin Disraeli. But most of the film financiers don't really want to back a period piece so Charlie tells lady-in-charge Deidre (Meg Ryan) that it will be an ACTION picture. Fortunately, a hot star of the genre (LL Cool J) has just converted to Judaism! Thus, the movie will be titled, Benjamin Disraeli, freedom fighter and set in South Africa. Now, that's taking historical license. But, things go awry. There are many production problems and, then, the star gets kidnapped. Throwing caution to the wind, Charlie and Deirdre decide to make the film the writer penned in the first place. They just won't tell the studio! This is a zany film which moves very fast. Macy and Ryan are a great team, while Ritter, LL, Elliott Gould (what fun his unconventional rabbi is!) and the rest support the leads nicely. Sets, costumes, and rapid-paced direction make for a enjoyable watch. Deal yourself in to view this fine flick soon.

Boring and pointless

[casablancavic · 2/10 · 10 October 2018]

Wow. This is tiresome.

It's boring and pointless and there is absolutely no humor.

Obviously this movie is made for Jewish people who work in and around Hollywood or New York and not for anybody from another culture.

This is insulting to anybody who is not Jewish.

There is endless yapping, love scenes which spring out of nowhere and a plot that also goes nowhere - because it appears from nowhere.

I have nothing against any religion or nationality, but this just sucks.

It's not only insulting to anybody who is Jewish - but also to anybody who isn't Jewish.

Basically, it's insulting to everybody.

The only people who can appreciate this on any level are the people that worked on the film in any capacity, because there is nothing else to enjoy. They made a few more connections, they made a paycheck, some got to travel and they get credit for something that is listed on IMDB - another notch, only not of anything of interest.

This was compared to Bowfinger - which in no way should it be.

Bowfinger is in no way any comparison.

Bowfinger is actually funny and has a plot which can relate to almost anybody - in Hollywood or not - and it doesn't segregate any religions or nations. The entire story of Bowfinger is a laugh from the first minute to the last - and it makes sense - even to 10 year old kids.

This is straight garbage - and as good as the people played their parts, they still were bad- because the story was bad - except for some few Jewish people who work in the film industry. They will find this intriquing for some mysterious reason.

The high rating system on here is constructed of the people involved in this mess, because nobody else on the planet would find it funny - even in a dark humorous sense. There is no comedy or dramedy - there is only tiresome boring nothingness compounded with endless chatter about faith of some religion.

If this was made by Catholics - it would suck, if this was made by Buddhists or Hindus, Islams, Baptists or Lutherans or any other religious sect on the planet - regardless which one chosen - it would still suck.

This was made by Jewish Hollywood business people for a very small group of Jewish Hollywood business people about a very small group of Hollywood business people and it employed a majority of Jewish Hollywood business people.

This is more racist than almost any other film I've ever seen - and it doesn't even entertain in any capacity. Even if I was Jewish - it would bore me - because it just sucks!

I don't have to be Jewish or understand the religion in any capacity to realize there is nothing here. There's a story which is about 1 hour and 40 minutes long and it's just a dreadful bore to sit through - and not even as entertaining as this review.

Any other Jewish people will be lost on this if they have no connection with any high sections of movie making. Even if they worked in the production office or accounting or as a crew member, they won't get the story - because it lost it's focus after 3 minutes of starting.

Congratulations if you are 1 of 3000 people that watched this film and understood it in any capacity. You are the rare and limited audience that this went for and somehow magically succeeded.

As horrid as this was, I'm glad it was made - not because it shows promise - but because it shows none. Which means - the executives in Hollywood really have no clue as to what they are signing on for, but if it includes Jewish themes - they hope to save their hides.

This will not be viewed by majority of people - but the amount of money that was spent on this could have made 10 decent budget films which would actually be enjoyed and viewed by millions - but surprisingly, bankers, producers, distributors and financiers decided to put out this crap in hopes of somehow getting a kickback or some sort of payoff further down the line.

Dreadful on so many levels. Regardless of race, this is just a stinker with no redeeming quality.

It's also super racist in it's very own way.

A hilarious, fun satire of Hollywood "Jewish" film-making

[amish · 9/10 · 14 July 2008]

Just saw the film tonight at the 25th annual Jerusalem Film Festival, screened in the "Jewish Experience" category. This is of course not surprising since the film is hugely fun, mixing Judaism/Israeli aspects into a wonderful satire of Hollywood filmdom. Don't take this film too seriously, although the acting is wonderful, with everyone clearly knowing it's all in fun. Despite that, I really got into the 'vibe' of the story, waiting to see whether they'd manage to finish making the film - whichever one it'll be. The whole Jewish angle of the film is of course especially fun for us here in Israel, and even more so because Israeli actor Sharon Reginiano plays Levy the director and inserts all sorts of comments in Hebrew which may be lost to non-Hebrew speakers, even if they are translated. The film reminded me very much of "The Hebrew Hammer" (2003) with Adam Goldberg which I saw at the JFF of that year. Both films use the Jewish/Israeli/Hebrew slants to the max and are extremely tongue-in-cheek, satirizing their respective genres. Don't over-analyze or dissect this film - just see it for what it is, a fun satire of Hollywood movie-making and all it involves. Don't know if this'll catch on in the overall US/worldwide markets, but we here sure enjoyed it. And if it does go straight to DVD, no matter - just enjoy it that way!

On OK film for a night with nothing else on

[campbecg · 7/10 · 31 August 2009]

So, I enjoyed this film. I thought it was well done, well acted and funny. But notice no 'very's and not hilarious. I am pretty sure I got the humor as intended, although not being Israeli, or Jewish, and as I can't speak/understand yiddish, I am also sure I missed a bit.

I would recommend this movie, and in fact, have just done so to a coworker, to anyone who likes the chick-flickish genre of Who's Got Mail, etc.

My only comment about the choices of actors for the film is that I would have liked to see Tea Leoni as the lead female. I think she is a very under-appreciated comic actor.

Bad, Bad, Bad!

[VickiDK · 1/10 · 26 January 2009]

I'm so sorry to have to post negative comments about this movie, which stars two of my favorite actors, Meg Ryan and William H. Macy. From their other works, I can say without question that the reason this movie was so bad had nothing to do with their raw acting ability.

To be honest, I'm not sure where to place the blame for this stinker, but OTHER than raw acting ability, there is plenty of blame to go around, but the bulk of the blame goes to the director of this flick.

I had never heard of this movie when invited to a friend's house to watch it on DVD. I thought I was in for a treat, but from the first frame to the last, the movie made absolutely no sense. I couldn't understand the story line, the character's motivation or even why the leading characters were attracted to each other. Editing was extremely choppy and character dialogue was too rapid to to listen to with any understanding and too hard to follow even when you knew what was being said. Many times it was difficult to hear even over the chatter of other characters.

As to makeup, I'd never seen Meg Ryan look so awful. Her eyes were dead, her hair looked like blonde straw and her lips were overdone. This was supposed to establish her character, but it was so badly done that it even distracted me from watching or understanding her character. Of course, she was supposed to be a powerful movie producer (I guess - I could never figure that out either.) The whole movie was just so bad, that it tortures me even now just trying to figure out what the main story line was even supposed to be.

I love William H. Macy. To see the work of a masterful actor, watch his performance in a made-for-TV movie, "Door to Door." His acting wasn't bad in The Deal, but his character just made no sense to me.

If you decide to see this movie, I sincerely hope you enjoy it more than I did.

William H. Macy is no William Powel

[pontifikator · 13 November 2011]

Co-written by William H. Macy and Steven Schachter, this movie named "The Deal" was directed by Schacher and starred Macy as Charlie Berns, Meg Ryan as Deidre Hearn, and Jason Ritter as Lionel Travitz. It's a laugh-out-loud funny movie, but it has a few minor faults.

The gist of the movie is that Charlie is a has-been producer who has hit the end of the line. His nephew Lionel stumbles in with a script. Charlie, having nothing to lose, pitches it to a studio as a vehicle for a black action star who has recently converted to Judaism and is looking for a property to promote his new Jewish ideals. The only problem is that the script is about Benjamin Disraeli, an 1800s English prime minister. (Disraeli was born into a Jewish family, but his father had him baptized as an Anglican when Disraeli was twelve.)

Spoilers ahead. Here is one of my problems. Although Charlie is pitched by the script as a total loser, he out-maneuvers everyone with aplomb and total lack of effort and gets the film green lighted. He then finesses and finagles every problem thrown at him by Diedre, who loves the original script and detests the rewrite as an action film with Disraeli as a black action hero machinegunning Muslims to save a Torah and the girl. The process in "The Deal" is hilarious, I just had to suspend a wee bit too much disbelief.

The script is based on Peter Lefcourt's novel of the same name, and a great deal of the film is spent skewering Hollywood types. Charlie sloughs off all responsibility, dumping all decisions on others in his relentless drive to get the film in the can. Roadblock after roadblock from self-promoting producers, legal, development, prima donna directors, prima donna actors, and studio heads are overcome or by-passed with a casual toss of the hand by Charlie. It was funny, very funny, but just not quite believable to me.

The other problem is that the screenplay bolts a romantic comedy onto the darker comedy about Hollywood types. Meg Ryan's Diedre is in development, and she wants the original script produced. She attempts to hijack the movie, sabotage it, and get it back on track, in the process falling in love with Charlie. My major problem is that Charlie, shown as an unkempt, total loser with no class never really cleans up even when he's winning. In "Pretty Woman," Julia Roberts plays a street walker, for pete's sake, not even a call girl, but when Richard Gere gets her out of her slutty costume, she gets class.

Charlie, alas, remains unclassy throughout. I guess my major complaint is that while Meg Ryan can do a respectable Myrna Loy, William H. Macy is no William Powell. Ever. Nothing in the script makes him bloom into a character worth Diedre's time. Macy has a winning smile, and the script has him playing it for all it's worth, but he's not my ideal romantic lead opposite Meg Ryan. The parts of the script where Charlie and Diedre bantered back and forth didn't sparkle for me.

The movie hit the indie film contests and went straight to video. I enjoyed the movie a great deal despite its flaws, and I recommend it.

I read the novel after I saw the movie. I recommend this because most books have depth and character missing from movies, but it's not necessary for Lefcourt's book. The book and movie are different enough to keep your interest, but there's no character development and no depth -- like the movie, not a problem. It's a funny book, but I suspect I missed a lot of inside humor since I don't know the goings on in Hollywood. The book was published in 1991, and it's dated because of references to the top stars of 20 years ago, but most people will catch the drift. Additionally, the relationship between Diedre and Charlie is more fully developed, has a satisfactory explanation, and suffers no attempts at romantic banter. With no description of Charlie offered by Lefcourt, he's left to my own imagination.

One other plus for the book: I got a lot more out of the names for Lefcourt's characters. Emprin, Hudris, Fuchs, Ikon, Bland, Auger, and more I'm sure that went right over my head. It got off to a very slow start, but it soon had me turning pages with time going by unnoticed.

Has some moments....

[elo-equipamentos · 6/10 · 27 November 2017]

I bought this Blu-ray thinking to be another one, finally when l start to watch realize my lack of attention, however the picture didn't disappoint me entirely, but the plot is very questionable, making a Jewish movie using a black character is completely insane, a nice view behind the scenes how works making movies, glad to see after a hiatus Meg Ryan and the fine actor William H. Macy again...and Elliott Gould of course.

Resume:

First watch: 2017 / How many: 1 / Source: Blu-ray / Rating: 6.25

Unfunny and pointless

[jville2 · 4/10 · 13 January 2009]

This could have been good if it were actually funny. Humor is obviously subjective, but based on the 6.1 rating on here, most viewers did not subjectively find this film funny either.

There is not remotely a believable, moving, or memorable moment to save this unfunny "comedy." Macy usually provides some human warmth to his characters, but even he could not save this terrible script. Macy's relationship with Ryan is not touching, and the two have no chemistry whatsoever.

Also, Meg Ryan, who was never good looking to begin with, now looks like a freak: gross!

Grade: F

Nice shots of Cape Town

[God-12 · 2/10 · 24 July 2009]

It's a good film for shots of Cape Town.

I like the bit where they use the 'Five Flies' restaurant as a stand-in for London, by using on of the Rikki black taxis.

The actors all clearly think they're terribly funny, so I have to assume that the overall intent is comedic, but the film is so badly acted and plotted that it's difficult to be certain.

If you don't enjoy shots of Cape Town, then it's best avoided.

They did use quite a number of different locations, so there is some variety. The poor old Rhodes Memorial scrubbed down badly, I fear.

There's something essentially pointless, I think, in making films about making films - 'Extras' was a lot less interesting than 'The Office'.

Gets on your nerves

[thomas-rothschild · 2/10 · 31 December 2021]

Even if the script would be funnier: the "effervescent personality" of Meg Ryan gets on your nerves to an extent that makes you want to escape. Namedropping isn't enough for either a comedy or criticism of Hollywood.

Not Funny?!

[steve0557 · 8/10 · 2 March 2009]

Not funny huh... "Benjamin Disraeli? What happened to Tony Blair?" - "...she throws like a girl!!" - "Hey guys thanks much, you're fired, great input though" - "....colonel America" - "...if you circumcised this movie it still couldn't be Jewish." - "...that's Bobbie's trailer, that's his gym and that's his mobile temple." LL Cool J in a Yarmukuh over a Du Rag: Moderately hysterical. William H. Macy's bare butt: Hysterical. Meg Ryan's choices in footwear: Priceless. Especially when compared to some other so called romantic comedies I've seen recently I was pleasantly surprised and entertained by this movie. Besides, Elliott Gould can make me laugh by just reading the phone book.

Hollywood Vortex

[fritz-114 · 2/10 · 21 March 2023]

It is apparent that Hollywood is spinning out of control and this disaster of a movie proves my point. The casting of Macy with Ryan is complete dribble from some sort of consortium of a casting crew. It comes off like fingernails on a chalkboard. The writing is sophomoric and juvenile. What was Macy thinking and why did Ryan's agent let her take this absolute train wreck from the station? Huge mistake for all involved. Any popcorn purchased should be refunded. While I am talking refunds, who thought putting Gould in this was a good idea? What a shame to taint all these actors careers all in one swoop. Give me my time back!

Humourless drivel

[GloriousGooner · 1/10 · 1 April 2010]

A washed-up jaded disillusioned screenwriter takes a great art-house script, ruins it and turns it into an awful action movie all for the benefit of his own personal joke. There's no comedy here and the film development moves so fast it's impossible to follow what's going on, how or indeed why. The lead characters have no chemistry and with no hint of a tongue anywhere near a cheek it would seem this film is one massive joke on the audience. There's no wit, no sense of irony, no cleverness i just sincerely hope this is William H Macy's career nadir because to sink any lower would take a remarkable feat of hitherto unknown physical dexterity on his part. Watching a large tin of emulsion drying would be preferable any day over watching this steaming cow dung of a film ever again.

William H. Macy proves that as a filmmaker...he's a great actor.

[MBunge · 4/10 · 28 July 2011]

William H. Macy has given a lot of great performances in a lot of great films. Absolutely none of that is apparent in this unfunny, self-absorbed, toothless and tiresome movie. The Deal makes Macy look like some talentless boob who won the lottery and decided to leave his job as an accountant and become a filmmaker. Teamed up with a starkly unattractive Meg Ryan, Macy has created a gigantic turd that should have been left in his toilet bowl and not flung at the public like an angry chimp.

The Deal is yet another entry into one of the most putrid genres of modern cinema, "the movie about making movies". It seems as though virtually every single person in Hollywood wants to make one of these films and virtually all of them suck ass. Even the best of these "movies about movies" are rarely more than inside jokes that most people don't get. Most of them are boring and self-indulgent. The worst are physically painful to sit through.

Charlie Berns (William H. Macy) is a movie producer so down on his luck he's about to kill himself. Unfortunately for the people watching The Deal, Charlie's suicide is interrupted by his nephew Lionel (Jason Ritter), who has a script about Benjamin Disraeli and William Gladstone that he wants Charlie to look at. In the first of many things in this story that make little to no sense, the script inspires Charlie to try and put together a deal to produce a 100 million dollar action flick starring megastar Bobby Mason (LL Cool J). Though he encounters some resistance from studio executive Deirdre Hearn (Meg Ryan), Charlie is able to pile up enough BS to get the project approved and rushed into production.

As filming begins, it becomes obvious that the movie is going to be a spectacular piece of garbage. Charlie, however, can only focus on trying to get into Deirdre's pants. When Bobby Mason is kidnapped by terrorists and the studio shuts down production, Deirdre and Charlie decide to take the leftover money and make a movie out of Lionel's original script, which had been bastardized beyond recognition to suit the meatheaded Mason's limitations. Can Deirdre and Charlie get this charming and classy film made before the studio figures out what they're up to?

I can honestly say that I didn't care a whit about anything or anyone in this story. I didn't care if they made the first crappy film or the second quality film. I didn't care if Charlie and Deirdre got together. I didn't care about them when they got together. And after they inevitably broke up, I didn't care if they got back together. I didn't care if Charlie had a hundred lit bottle rockets shoved up his butt. I didn't care if Deirdre was gang raped by a herd of rhinos. The characters in this film are neither real nor amusing. The plot is schizophrenic. The direction is pedestrian in the sense it tried to cross the street and got run over by a truck. The dialog is stunningly unfunny and most of the acting, especially by the two leads, is the sort of stuff that wouldn't even pass muster at a community theater in a small town of 200 people.

Macy seems to have tried to get through his entire performance using only two expressions. I wouldn't be surprised if I found out Meg Ryan was drunk in half her scenes. And in addition to her poor acting, Ryan just looks awful in this film. I don't know if it was bad make up, whatever she's done to her lips or if she's just been too thin for too long, but Ryan appears to have been ridden hard and put away wet. Ryan was a marvelously cute woman and had the sort of attractiveness that should have aged well. In The Deal, she only looks aged.

Let me give you a specific example of how terrible this movie is. After Charlie and Deirdre have their predictable onset fling, it's just as predictable they break up when filming is over. But things go past predictable and into lobotomized when Charlie and Deirdre have not one, not two but three goodbye scenes, one right after the other right after the other. Imagine if at the end of Star Wars that after the ceremony where Han and Luke received their medals, they held a second ceremony and gave them another pair of medals. That's what the ending of The Deal is like.

I didn't get a single moment or ounce of entertainment out of watching this film. If you want to see William H. Macy's bare behind, it does make two very brief appearances. Beyond that, you'd get more out of a screenful of static than you will out of viewing The Deal.

Nerve-racking

[ilania_a · 5/10 · 5 December 2010]

It simply went on my nerves! What it proved is that people who go into the film-production whirlpool of Hollywood actually lose everything when it comes to their own dignity, self-respect and personality. Perhaps it is what the director meant to do….if so, he did well. William M. Macy took part in writing the screenplay as well as acts the main role, and did a good job of it. However, there are some scenes that feel like repetitions and could have been edited out of the film. There was no point in harping on something so many times. Meg Ryan acts well,yet in this film she really does not have that wonderful, fetching screen presence she usually delivers. I did not enjoy this film despite the fact that it is obvious that the producers tried to do something authentic, original and honest.

A pleasant, satisfying and completely unexpected delight.

[markymnstr · 9/10 · 8 November 2008]

From a business perspective, in some ways I can understand why this movie is going direct from the film festivals straight to DVD. It's smart, funny, engaging, and even takes time to poke fun at itself. And with a marquee cast of Meg Ryan and William Macy a theatrical run would have probably sucked up a lot of speculative investment dollars the studio didn't have or wasn't willing to risk.

In the last month or so I've seen "Body of Lies," "Eagle Eye," "The Chageling," "Ghost Town," "Happy-Go-Lucky" and "Burn After Reading," and to my amazement, "The Deal" is probably the most overall satisfying watch of them all. My expectations were limited, so not expecting much is a good way to be pleasantly surprised. And I was. Very! William H. Macy and Steven Schacter have written a lot of television movies together but this was their first theatrical stab. And they hit a bulls eye. Admittedly, it's a movie about a movie, and it's not going to appeal to Joe the Plumber or Joe Six-pack. But you don't have to be a Hollywood insider to feel the chemistry, get the humor, or root for the romance. The characters were plausible. The relationships were genuine. And the humor was biting. Meg Ryan and William Macy are near the top of their comedic game and they deliver in an unexpectedly satisfying way.

BTW, Macy and Ryan are listed way down the cast totem pole in the credits, but they are the main star vehicles that drive this film and keep it moving. Macy has a commanding comedic touch he nurtured in "Fargo," and adds a sprinkle of tragedy he borrows from "The Cooler." And Ryan, rekindled her spark from "You've Got Mail" and delivers probably her most satisfying performance since.

Really, for movie lovers, a pleasant, satisfying and completely unexpected delight.

P.S. I checked 'spoiler' alert as a precautionary measure. I don't believe I gave anything away.