The Last Deal

Vincent (Anthony Molinari) runs his weed dispensary business in California. He makes a killing in 2015 in the murky legality. In 2016, a referendum legalizes marijuana in the state and his troubles begin. His business slowly dies from competition, over-regulation, and corrupt officials. He can't get the right license. His business partner Bobby comes to him with a desperate last deal.

Vincent strikes me a bit of a meathead. He is out of his depths. Anthony Molinari doesn't have big star power, but he does fit the character somewhat. I saw the double-cross from a mile away. I figured that they planted a tracker on the truck. It seems really careless to leave the weed in an unguarded warehouse. If it was me, I would secure that stuff before I take a nap. The last act has lots of violence which is a little jarring. The violence level jumps from a two to a full ten rather quickly. Some of killings don't feel real. Maybe, they're not set up well enough. This is a B-movie. The lead is a B-actor. It's a lot of Bs.

I loved this movie because it addresses a shift in the drug trade within U. S borders: The legalization of marijuana and how it affects those who dealt in the growth and distribution of this controlled substance. The cinematography was great, the story believable, and the characters all looked like and behaved like they belonged to the underbelly of society. Anthony Molinari was great in Tenet and The Fighter and he's amazing in this too.

I personally don't think there are too many films out there that tackle the subject the way this film does. It makes it a must watch for anyone who liked Narcos, Cartel land or even Miami Vice.

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.

If you like shows, movies or documentaries that deal with the drug trade this is definitely for you. The film really makes you care about the central character as his world collapses due to the legalization of Marijuana. It reminded me a little bit of the movie 'The Gambler' because things just get worse and worse as the film progresses. It's intense. L. A is almost like a character in the film in the sense that quite a bit of the story was shot outside and this makes the movies vibrant, alive. I loved that! The beginning of the film has a bit of voice over that's quite insightful. It grounded the story and made it even more realistic. This was a great watch.

Don't understand why the rating is so low. Who watched this movie, 12 year old boys expecting a Jason Bourne action film? Did you not see the trailer?

In any case, checked this out on a Thursday night and was impressed. The characters are really engaging, the music is excellent... love the Miami Vice synth-music, and L. A. actually felt like Los effin Angeles.

It felt like an early Michael Mann film and I'm curious to see what these filmmakers can do with a bigger budget. The only downfall for this film, and I saw someone else write this somewhere in the reviews, is not enough people will watch this because it doesn't have a big Hollywood budget.

Worth a watch, and it's only 90 minutes!