The latest Burt Reynold’s offering, simply titled Deal, is certainly a niche release. Reynold’s stars as a retired poker master who nearly lost everything twenty years prior to the film. He takes a young, aspiring, intelligent poker player under his wing in one last attempt to regain his past glory and recover from the massive financial loss that haunts him. Of course, a 50/50 split amongst poker demigods couldn’t really be that simple now could it? Of course not! Anger, distrust, jealousy, and a …well…a hooker come between the young star and his mentor and it becomes teacher vs. student Texas Hold’em style.
For the most part this movie works well as an intellectual movie, it even feels a bit like an action movie thanks to the pacing and camera work. Speaking as someone who knows little to nothing about the world of Poker, the fact that I still thoroughly enjoyed the movie says a lot about it in my book. Of course if you are into this subculture it’s even better as I’m sure you’d understand the finer points slightly better and you’d also likely recognize the slew of Texas Hold’em players that make cameos throughout the movie.
When all is said and done this is a solid movie. It’s not groundbreaking but it is really enjoyable. It challenges you intellectually enough to pique and keep your interest but also appeals to the “I don’t want to think deeply about a movie” part of the viewer with the expertly shot and edited look of the film. This is a great movie to check out between summer blockbusters but not one to choose over them.
Reviewed by Mark Fisher
