This film can be described exactly as a hand of Hold'Em plays out. As Deal begins, it seems to be nothing but a great big Flop. The writing, acting, and overall film quality appear to be quite sub-par and in danger of being run from the table. As the story unfolds (the Turn) however, anyone semi-interested in poker may get drawn in not by the semi-interesting story itself, but by the excitement it raises in playing a game for yourself. If nothing else, Deal will do that a few times, which may be why PartyPoker.net is involved. Finally, as the story comes to a close, you'll be taken up and down the River a few times to see if our star finally wins the jackpot of over 8 million dollars.
The story itself is as old as it gets. Young Alex Stillman, played by Bret Harrison (TV's Reaper, TV's That 70's Show) gets seen by legend poker player, Tommy Vinson, played by Burt Reynolds (Deliverance, Smokey and the Bandit series), who decides to take it upon himself to mentor the kid because he cannot play himself. Twenty years prior, Vinson lost his confidence in cards and promised his wife that he would walk away from the table, but finds himself hooked on teaching the kid, even if it breaks his double-decade oath. As the story progresses, the teacher and student have it out and end up facing each other at the final table of the World Series of Poker, only to find out who truly is the best poker player on the planet.
It's a bit sad to see a legend like Burt Reynolds in a B-film like Deal, because the bad writing and poor quality takes away from his generally good performance. In fact, Reynolds' character is the only one that is truly believable, other than possibly that of the relatively small part of a Las Vegas prostitute played by Shannon Elizabeth (American Pie, Scary Movie). It's not to say that lead actor Bret Harrison was terrible; just that his performance wasn't top-notch.
It's very safe to say that Deal will definitely not appeal to everyone. This poker flick is definitely geared toward those late-night Internet players that have a wishful dream of making it big on the World Poker Tour. The film does have quite a few cameos in it for those that care, including numerous poker stars and "everyone's favorite" (as the movie puts it) player, played by Jennifer Tilly (The Caretaker, Seed of Chucky).
