Product Details

• Actors: LL Cool J, Elliott Gould, William H. Macy, Jason Ritter, Meg Ryan
• Directors: Steven Schachter
• Format: Closed-captioned, Color, Dolby, DVD, Subtitled, Widescreen, NTSC
• Subtitles: English, Spanish
• Region: Region 1 (U.S. and Canada only. Read more about DVD formats.)
  
• Aspect Ratio: 1.78:1
• Number of discs: 1
• Rated: R (Restricted)
• Studio: Peace Arch Trinity
• DVD Release Date: January 20, 2009
• Run Time: 100 minutes
• Average Customer Review: 3.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (20 customer reviews)
• ASIN: B001ICDR2W
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #159,593 in Movies & TV (See Top 100 in Movies & TV)

Editorial Reviews

Studio: Peace Arch Home Entertain Release Date: 01/20/2009 Run time: 100 minutes Rating: R

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

10 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars (2.5 STARS) Mildly Amusing Comedy That Has Nothing New to Say, November 21, 2009

By 

Tsuyoshi (Kyoto, Japan) - See all my reviews
(TOP 1000 REVIEWER)   

This review is from: The Deal (+ Digital Copy) (DVD)

"The Deal" is a light comedy with a bit of romance and satire thrown in. It follows the story of one Charlie Burns (William H. Macy, who also co-wrote the screenplay), a failed Hollywood film producer, who uses his nephew's period-piece script (about 19th century British writer and statesman Benjamin Disraeli) for his "comeback." While Charlie struggles to get what he wants (sometimes by cheating and lying), he meets a beautiful studio executive Deidre (Meg Ryan). I almost forgot to say that Charlie is a lady's man, too.

I am always interested in the "films about filmmaking" sub-genre. You know, there are so many of them - "Adaptation" "Bowfinger" etc - and some are great ("Day for Night") and some terrible ("An Alan Smithee Film: Burn Hollywood Burn" ... what else?). Thanks to the cast (that includes Elliot Gould as rabbi and L.L. Cool J. as spoiled action star), "The Deal" is mildly amusing, but the film's satire is not sharp and the jokes are not very funny.

Don't get me wrong. I like Meg Ryan and William H. Macy. But somehow it seems they are not the right choice for the roles they are playing in "The Deal." There is no chemistry between the two leads to make me believe that they fall in love with each other. Besides, the story itself doesn't convince me. How can a down-and-out film producer like Charlie get a 100 million dollar action movie greenlit when everyone in Hollywood knows he has been unsuccessful so long?

All in all "The Deal" is not that bad, at least to me, but it has no originality either, except the location of South Africa. Perhaps this is the most convincing part of the film.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars funny and fun to watch, April 24, 2010

By 

AIROLF (USA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

This review is from: The Deal (+ Digital Copy) (DVD)

A thoroughly enjoyable romp into showbiz, The Deal exposes what must go on prior to the making of some films and explains why the indies rarely get made while stupid, overdone productions get a green light. The film contains what has become an almost signature role for William H. Macy - that of a loathsome, self-deprecating man who somehow is able to win the audience over by the end of the movie.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars The Deal, April 22, 2010

By 

E. K. Moseley (AZ USA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: The Deal (DVD)

The Deal is a film that will be studied in film classes in the future. It is a comedy approach to how a film is made, (like Singing in the Rain without signing and dancing). Both of these movies were condemned by critics upon the making of them. The Deal is funning and to be seen as a joke on the industry and then how to make a film and get it produced. I liked it and say it is worth buying just laugh at a film in a film.