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The Deal (2008 film)

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Director
  
Steven Schachter

Music director
  
Jeff Beal

Country
  
United States

5.8/10
IMDb

Genre
  
Comedy, Romance

Duration
  

Language
  
English

The Deal (2008 film) movie poster
Release date
  
January 22, 2008 (2008-01-22) (Sundance Film Festival)

Based on
  
The Deal  by Peter Lefcourt

Writer
  
William H. Macy (screenplay), Steven Schachter (screenplay), Peter Lefcourt (novel)

Initial release
  
November 20, 2008 (Russia)

Initial DVD release
  
December 15, 2008 (Poland)

Cast
  
William H. Macy
(Charlie Berns),
Meg Ryan
(Deidre Hearn),
Jason Ritter
(Lionel Travitz),
Elliott Gould
(Rabbi Seth Gutterman),
LL Cool J
(Bobby Mason),
Kate Blumberg
(Linda)

Similar movies
  
Interstellar
,
Jupiter Ascending
,
Pitch Perfect 2
,
Captain America: The First Avenger
,
The Last Witch Hunter
,
The Avengers

Charlie Berns (William H. Macy) is a movie producer who convinces a major studio to fund a film about British Prime Minister Benjamin Disraeli. But he rewrites the script, transforming the film into an action flick for Bobby Mason (LL Cool J), a recent convert to Judaism who is eager to play the Jewish statesman. During production, Mason is kidnapped by a radical political organization, and it is up to Berns and development executive Deidre Hearn (Meg Ryan) to save the film and its star.

Contents

The Deal (2008 film) movie scenes

The Deal is a 2008 American satirical comedy film directed by Steven Schachter. The screenplay by Schachter and William H. Macy is based on the 1991 novel of the same title by Peter Lefcourt. Macy and Meg Ryan co-star.

The Deal (2008 film) movie scenes

The film was shot in Cape Town and other South African locations. It premiered at the 2008 Sundance Film Festival and was the opening night attraction at the Sarasota Film Festival. It also was shown at the Philadelphia Film Festival, the Maui Film Festival, and the Traverse City Film Festival, among others, but never was given a theatrical release in the United States. It was released on Region 1 DVD on January 20, 2009.

The Deal (2008 film) movie scenes

Charlie Berns (William H. Macy) is a veteran Hollywood movie producer who has given up on his career and life. That is until his idealistic screenwriter nephew (Jason Ritter) comes bearing the script of a lifetime and Charlie decides to give his career one final shot. The only thing standing in his way is Diedre Hearn (Meg Ryan), a sharp-witted studio executive brought in to keep Charlie in line.

Plot

The Deal (2008 film) movie scenes

Struggling Hollywood film producer Charlie Berns is on the verge of suicide when his aspiring screenwriter nephew Lionel arrives from New Jersey with a script about 19th century British statesman Benjamin Disraeli. Charlie agrees to make the film, but only when he converts the literate PBS-style script (that he didnt read) into an action adventure Middle Eastern espionage film, Ben Disraeli: Freedom Fighter.

He casts power-star African American Bobby Mason, a recent convert to Judaism, in the title role and, after some creative wrangling with studio big-wigs and feisty project developer Deidre Hearn, whom he is instantly attracted to, he proceeds to set up production in South Africa. Charlie then lies to the studio, saying Bobby insists Deidre, who has purposely avoided Charlie, be sent to South Africa to assist on the production. She arrives, and she and Charlie eventually hook-up. After Bobby is kidnapped by terrorists during the shoot, and the film is shut down, Deidre hatches a scheme to produce Lionels original script on the Q.T.. Using financing that must stay in Prague, Charlie and Deidre manage to film Lionels original movie there, which goes on to receive seven Golden Globe nominations, making Charlie and Deidre the newest power couple producers in Hollywood.

Cast

  • William H. Macy as Charlie Berns
  • Meg Ryan as Deidre Hearn
  • LL Cool J as Bobby Mason
  • Elliott Gould as Rabbi Seth Gutterman
  • Jason Ritter as Lionel Travitz
  • Fiona Glascott as Fiona Hicks
  • Similar Movies

    William H Macy appears in The Deal and State and Main. The Player (1992). SOB (1981). Never Give a Sucker an Even Break (1941). Bowfinger (1999).

    Critical reception

    In his review in Variety, Peter Debruge said, "The characters seem to be doing all the laughing, while the general public has nothing to cling to but the horndog flirtation between mismatched leads William H. Macy and Meg Ryan - hardly ideal ingredients for mainstream success . . . Elliott Gould gets laughs as the credit-hungry rabbi pulled in to consult on the film, although a few A-list celebrity cameos in the movie-star roles would have gone a long way toward completing the illusion."

    Although Matt Prigge of the Philadelphia Weekly felt there was "nothing remotely original" about the film, he thought it "just happens to be sprightlier than most, zipping along from one familiar but well-deployed yuk to the next and anchored by the surprisingly winning team of Macy and Meg Ryan."

    Michael Atkinson of the Boston Phoenix called the film a "bouncy, sharp-edged farce . . . [whose] target audience is, to some degree, its own cast and crew. Yet it’s difficult to resist when the purely idiotic is openly mocked by a sure-footed cast of line readers led by William H. Macy . . . Meg Ryan gets a somewhat thankless role . . . but the dialogue is fast, and of course the target is a fat, awful, patronizing goldfish in a small bowl begging to be shot."

    References

    The Deal (2008 film) Wikipedia
    The Deal (2008 film) IMDb The Deal (2008 film) themoviedb.org