The Last Deal

"The Last Deal" is a low-budget crime drama with a focus on the story, a thoroughly successful production design and a colour scheme that transports you straight to California. Jonathan Salemi manages to tell a calm and grounded story with this film, which doesn't convince with big twists and brutal action, but with a charming lead actor and a story based on real events. The film follows an interesting approach: it sheds light on the drug and especially the marijuana milieu in California after the legalisation of cannabis. The central theme is how an illegal scene has to adapt as a result of the sudden legalisation and has to face new problems despite the supposedly improved situation.

Anthony Molinari embodies the main character, who has to struggle with precisely this change and really endeavours to comply with the new regulations and continue his initially illegal activity legally. However, a rejection of his legal sales licence forces him to enter into one last dirty deal. The secret star of the film is Sala Baker, who despite the short screen time is able to play out his charm an d impresses with his physicality and simple coolness. Disasters like "Madame Web" are currently running in cinemas and are really intentionally pulling money out of your pocket with striking marketing, obvious deceptive packaging and the least amount of effort. "The Last Deal" isn't a masterpiece of creativity and therefore can't compete with indie hits like "Beyond the infinite two minutes" or similar, but it trumps with something that many films lack these days: honest entertainment. It's an indie film with a low budget that makes the best of it and only wants one thing: 90 minutes of cinematic entertainment. And it succeeds.

After reviewing the film's background and low budget during the Covid Pandemic, I felt they had a great screen play, the main actor in this movie Vincent, does a fantastic job as a drug dealer trying to make a score before the business model gets derailed.

Overall: I would rate this hi for a film with a budget that wasn't there, no permits and shot during a shutdown. The producer did a great job with letting scenes play out as they would in real life.

The backstory may have been expanded upon, knowing the characters and where they came from, but the plot thickens and so does the suspense.

I would choose this over many of the low budget films that are out there over this time period.

I think my expectations were...high. They did a great job with a limited budget. Support indie filmmaking and buy/rent the movie. Just know what you're getting in to. Keep it up, y'all.

I think my expectations were...high. They did a great job with a limited budget. Support indie filmmaking and buy/rent the movie. Just know what you're getting in to. Keep it up, y'all.

I think my expectations were...high. They did a great job with a limited budget. Support indie filmmaking and buy/rent the movie. Just know what you're getting in to. Keep it up, y'all.

I think my expectations were...high. They did a great job with a limited budget. Support indie filmmaking and buy/rent the movie. Just know what you're getting in to. Keep it up, y'all.

I was referred to watch this from a filmmaking friend. He told me the film was shot pretty low budget with no permits and a bunch of Hollywood stuntmen. He loved it but I had no idea what to expect. Man, was I blown away.

They must have pulled some serious favors to shoot in the locations they shot but the film works outside of the production value. This is a very tense well acted ride. It's beautifully shot and I haven't seen Los Angeles look this dirty and noir slimey since Michael Mann type stuff.

The soundtrack is really good too. Composer Tony Fiala does an amazing job creating a tone throughout the movie. And director Jonathan Salemi really shines at telling a compelling and engaging story.

Anthony Molinari who I noticed from "Barry" really steals the show. Amazing what they pulled off in this movie. Although it does have a couple slow moments, it should not be confused with a micro-budget movie because it's so much more than that. It really is an amazing piece of cinema if you consider how much they made it for. And it can stand alone without that knowledge as well.

Sometimes indie cinema hits and sometimes it just completely misses. This is the former! It's great to see what the independent landscape can provide when done well.

This movie caught me by surprise because I didn't know what to expect. It's done very well. The only way it could struggle is because it sometimes feels like a much bigger film and you can see what the filmmakers could possibly do with a bigger budget.

Lead actor Anthony Molinari is phenomenal playing the anti-hero and person against the ropes. Supporting actor Mister Fitzgerald stuck out for me too. I hope we see more of him. He brings a strong honest quality.

Director and Producer Jonathan Salemi really achieved a lot with a little and told a very non pretentious story whereas many indies sometimes feel like they're being something they're not. I look forward to seeing what he does next with a bigger budget.

The only unfortunate thing is this movie won't get the marketing blitz behind it that a larger film would and that's unfortunate because the film really stands up on its own and competes with movies 10x its size. Well done indie Hollywood!!! Btw, great death scene in the middle of the movie. Wasn't expecting it nor my daughter, ha!