Deal

I saw this film last night and I liked it. Burt Reynolds was the right choice for the part and Bret Harrison was convincing. In spite of a basic storyline they took the poker-concept serious. Shannon Elizabeth's part is what surprised me the most, I will not spoil it for anyone, it was just something else. It has been a while since her last film and I have to say she still has her man-enchanting skills.

So in a nutshell: A nice, OK movie with a sort of debuting Bret Harrison, a Burt Reynolds right in it's place and a comeback for Shannon Elizabeth which is definitely worth a watch, especially for pokerfans. I hope to see more of Bret and Shannon.

Very poorly developed, the movie simply jumps into poker and fails to ever develop its characters or any interest in them.

If you're a poker fan you'll probably enjoy watching this fictional version of World Tournament of Poker et al.

But again, it's fictional, and apparently an opportunity for several big-name washed-out actors (Burt Reynolds, Jennifer Tilly) to get a job.

But since it's fictional and the characters are simply pretend, there's nothing in this movie that causes your empathy or excitement to root for them, unfortunately.

What a bum-deal.

Another dud poker film.

Why? Two main reasons; firstly, it does not look and feel like film. The script is really lazy: where was the REAL education, where was something we haven't seen a thousand times before. It is no way and at no time touches the heart and soul of the game. Plus it just looks and feels like a TV made movie: there is no attempt to use film to compliment the story, the grading, lighting, editing etc; are some of the most unoriginal I've seen for a while (And don't get me started on Reynold's hairpiece).

And secondly, and for my money this is incredibly off putting the whole film reeks of being an ad for a poker company and its site - there is just no integrity, and not enough fun, excitement, or film here.

The positives are the chemistry between the leads is good and that makes it just viewable for a really lazy beer and pizza night...

But it's really just 90 minutes of regurgitated slick willy crap.

Hugely disappointing, the best thing about this was the trailer....

If you play poker, this movie will make you cringe. It's kind of like you get embarrassed just watching it. Like people said it's not in the same field as Rounders. It's not even as good as lucky you. Which I thought had a few cringey moments of dialogue. But overall still much better than this. The grand is a worthwhile movie over this aswell as a comedy with a poker story. Anyways, the acting is very subpar. The lead character just isnt super likeable. Probably stems from me just being turned off by the script. Poker movies will generally have some of the same formats and story lines to some extent. That's why execution, acting, and dialogue is so important and this movie falls short. All in all just keep rewatching Rounders. And maybe occasionally throw in lucky you and the grand for your poker movie fix.

"Deal" is the oldie about the retired card shark - who's sworn off the game for love of a good woman - who serruptitiously takes a promising young whippersnapper under his wing to train him in the fine art of high-stakes poker. Burt Reynolds is the leathery old pro and Bret Harrision his green, but cocky pupil who together head to Vegas and New Orleans for an intense session of training and instruction. But will Tommy be able to resist the lure of the tables and not mount a comeback of his own? And will we finally wind up with the card shark and the neophyte squaring off in a televised multi-million-dollar tournament to determine the very best poker player in the whole wide world? I'll see you and raise you on that bet.

As a subject for film, poker is already one of the least compelling forms of competition there is, and "Deal" does little to rectify that situation. Moreover, the characters and plot lines are so hopelessly hackneyed and uninspired that we spend most of our time just waiting for the scenes to play themselves out. Harrison lacks charisma as the upstart newbie, but Reynolds brings a degree of gravitas to his overly-familiar role of a has-been trying to achieve the victory and personal glory he missed out on the first time around.

But you'll wind up feeling as enervated as the players long before the final hand is played.