The Deal

I'm so sorry to have to post negative comments about this movie, which stars two of my favorite actors, Meg Ryan and William H. Macy. From their other works, I can say without question that the reason this movie was so bad had nothing to do with their raw acting ability. To be honest, I'm not sure where to place the blame for this stinker, but OTHER than raw acting ability, there is plenty of blame to go around, but the bulk of the blame goes to the director of this flick. I had never heard of this movie when invited to a friend's house to watch it on DVD. I thought I was in for a treat, but from the first frame to the last, the movie made absolutely no sense. I couldn't understand the story line, the character's motivation or even why the leading characters were attracted to each other. Editing was extremely choppy and character dialogue was too rapid to to listen to with any understanding and too hard to follow even when you knew what was being said. Many times it was difficult to hear even over the chatter of other characters. As to makeup, I'd never seen Meg Ryan look so awful. Her eyes were dead, her hair looked like blonde straw and her lips were overdone. This was supposed to establish her character, but it was so badly done that it even distracted me from watching or understanding her character. Of course, she was supposed to be a powerful movie producer (I guess - I could never figure that out either.) The whole movie was just so bad, that it tortures me even now just trying to figure out what the main story line was even supposed to be. I love William H. Macy. To see the work of a masterful actor, watch his performance in a made-for-TV movie, "Door to Door." His acting wasn't bad in The Deal, but his character just made no sense to me. If you decide to see this movie, I sincerely hope you enjoy it more than I did.

From a business perspective, in some ways I can understand why this movie is going direct from the film festivals straight to DVD. It's smart, funny, engaging, and even takes time to poke fun at itself. And with a marquee cast of Meg Ryan and William Macy a theatrical run would have probably sucked up a lot of speculative investment dollars the studio didn't have or wasn't willing to risk. In the last month or so I've seen "Body of Lies," "Eagle Eye," "The Chageling," "Ghost Town," "Happy-Go-Lucky" and "Burn After Reading," and to my amazement, "The Deal" is probably the most overall satisfying watch of them all. My expectations were limited, so not expecting much is a good way to be pleasantly surprised. And I was. Very! William H. Macy and Steven Schacter have written a lot of television movies together but this was their first theatrical stab. And they hit a bulls eye. Admittedly, it's a movie about a movie, and it's not going to appeal to Joe the Plumber or Joe Six-pack. But you don't have to be a Hollywood insider to feel the chemistry, get the humor, or root for the romance. The characters were plausible. The relationships were genuine. And the humor was biting. Meg Ryan and William Macy are near the top of their comedic game and they deliver in an unexpectedly satisfying way. BTW, Macy and Ryan are listed way down the cast totem pole in the credits, but they are the main star vehicles that drive this film and keep it moving. Macy has a commanding comedic touch he nurtured in "Fargo," and adds a sprinkle of tragedy he borrows from "The Cooler." And Ryan, rekindled her spark from "You've Got Mail" and delivers probably her most satisfying performance since. Really, for movie lovers, a pleasant, satisfying and completely unexpected delight. P.S. I checked 'spoiler' alert as a precautionary measure. I don't believe I gave anything away.

Not funny huh... "Benjamin Disraeli? What happened to Tony Blair?" - "...she throws like a girl!!" - "Hey guys thanks much, you're fired, great input though" - "....colonel America" - "...if you circumcised this movie it still couldn't be Jewish." - "...that's Bobbie's trailer, that's his gym and that's his mobile temple." LL Cool J in a Yarmukuh over a Du Rag: Moderately hysterical. William H. Macy's bare butt: Hysterical. Meg Ryan's choices in footwear: Priceless. Especially when compared to some other so called romantic comedies I've seen recently I was pleasantly surprised and entertained by this movie. Besides, Elliott Gould can make me laugh by just reading the phone book.

Just saw the film tonight at the 25th annual Jerusalem Film Festival, screened in the "Jewish Experience" category. This is of course not surprising since the film is hugely fun, mixing Judaism/Israeli aspects into a wonderful satire of Hollywood filmdom. Don't take this film too seriously, although the acting is wonderful, with everyone clearly knowing it's all in fun. Despite that, I really got into the 'vibe' of the story, waiting to see whether they'd manage to finish making the film - whichever one it'll be. The whole Jewish angle of the film is of course especially fun for us here in Israel, and even more so because Israeli actor Sharon Reginiano plays Levy the director and inserts all sorts of comments in Hebrew which may be lost to non-Hebrew speakers, even if they are translated. The film reminded me very much of "The Hebrew Hammer" (2003) with Adam Goldberg which I saw at the JFF of that year. Both films use the Jewish/Israeli/Hebrew slants to the max and are extremely tongue-in-cheek, satirizing their respective genres. Don't over-analyze or dissect this film - just see it for what it is, a fun satire of Hollywood movie-making and all it involves. Don't know if this'll catch on in the overall US/worldwide markets, but we here sure enjoyed it. And if it does go straight to DVD, no matter - just enjoy it that way!

It's a good film for shots of Cape Town. I like the bit where they use the 'Five Flies' restaurant as a stand-in for London, by using on of the Rikki black taxis. The actors all clearly think they're terribly funny, so I have to assume that the overall intent is comedic, but the film is so badly acted and plotted that it's difficult to be certain. If you don't enjoy shots of Cape Town, then it's best avoided. They did use quite a number of different locations, so there is some variety. The poor old Rhodes Memorial scrubbed down badly, I fear. There's something essentially pointless, I think, in making films about making films - 'Extras' was a lot less interesting than 'The Office'.

This could have been good if it were actually funny. Humor is obviously subjective, but based on the 6.1 rating on here, most viewers did not subjectively find this film funny either. There is not remotely a believable, moving, or memorable moment to save this unfunny "comedy." Macy usually provides some human warmth to his characters, but even he could not save this terrible script. Macy's relationship with Ryan is not touching, and the two have no chemistry whatsoever. Also, Meg Ryan, who was never good looking to begin with, now looks like a freak: gross! Grade: F

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