GamerTab
That was an excellent one.
StyleSk8r
At first rather annoying in its heavy emphasis on reenactments, this movie ultimately proves fascinating, simply because the complicated, highly dramatic tale it tells still almost defies belief.
Kaelan Mccaffrey
Like the great film, it's made with a great deal of visible affection both in front of and behind the camera.
Cheryl
A clunky actioner with a handful of cool moments.
Amy Adler
Charlie (William H Macy) is a Hollywood producer who hasn't had many hits lately. Happily, his nephew (Jason Ritter) has written a wonderful script about the British Statesman Benjamin Disraeli. But most of the film financiers don't really want to back a period piece so Charlie tells lady-in-charge Deidre (Meg Ryan) that it will be an ACTION picture. Fortunately, a hot star of the genre (LL Cool J) has just converted to Judaism! Thus, the movie will be titled, Benjamin Disraeli, freedom fighter and set in South Africa. Now, that's taking historical license. But, things go awry. There are many production problems and, then, the star gets kidnapped. Throwing caution to the wind, Charlie and Deirdre decide to make the film the writer penned in the first place. They just won't tell the studio! This is a zany film which moves very fast. Macy and Ryan are a great team, while Ritter, LL, Elliott Gould (what fun his unconventional rabbi is!) and the rest support the leads nicely. Sets, costumes, and rapid-paced direction make for a enjoyable watch. Deal yourself in to view this fine flick soon.
chriswood-2
The Hollywood satire as a genre has never really satisfied me before and I nearly didn't watch this based on the synopsis I read. I'm really glad I did, William H Macy plays a cynical loser better than anyone else, the machiavellian side to this character is an interesting addition which he brings off well. Meg Ryan plays opposite him really well too. Cameo roles for actors as varied as Elliott Gould and LL Cool J add to the film. The plot has got twists enough to keep you hooked and amusing bits to keep you chuckling. Watching some of the dross that comes out of Hollywood you can well believe that some of them get made the way this film depicts the process.Along with The Cooler and Fargo this is one of Macy's best films, it is a quirky comedy that (in my opinion) deserves to be rated much higher.
Robert J. Maxwell
Every once in a while another movie about movies comes out -- metamovies. Truffaut's "Day For Night" was pretty good. "Bowfinger" had its moments. "The Deal" ought to be the comedy that it strives so hard to be but doesn't quite make it.Producers William Macy and Meg Ryan hire an Israeli director to make an action movie that was originally written as a biography of Benjamin Disraeli. The picture is to be shot in South Africa. There are myriad subsidiary characters I won't bother to name or describe.The action hero, a kind of black, Jewish Rambo, is kidnapped by an extremist political group and the studio tells Macy and Ryan to "shut it down and salvage what you can." They take this to mean they can move to Prague, where the studio has some frozen money, and revert to the original script about Disraeli.Granted it doesn't sound too funny and it's not. That's a shame in a way because they've got some talent in front of the camera, and not just high-end stars like Macy and Ryan.But the script, by Macy and Schachter, is weak, in that it's deficient in laughs, or smiles even, and there aren't any characters to particularly care about.The direction and editing need some seasoning. There are too many cutaway shots to spectators gaping open-mouthed at the goings on. Some gags depend on the viewer's knowledge of the rudiments of Judaism. A book is entitled "The Complete Idiot's Guide to the Talmud." I don't know that, even today, the casual viewer in America's Heartland is going to get a joke like that, or like the director's insistence that everyone on the set wear a yarmulkah. They'll go over well on the Coasts.I got the gags but didn't find them too amusing. The film simply ambles along with characters making shocking statements or doing outrageous things mostly in deadpan. It's confusing too. When the film within the film finally wrapped, it came as a surprise to me because I didn't know the production was that far along.It's not an insulting movie in any way, it's just not what it was intended to be. Too bad. "State and Main" is funnier.
John Quest
To IMDb: 2-15-2009 I am a writer and independent film producer. This movie was one of the most masterful projects I have seen. William Macy is a brilliant writer with his understanding of the business, he created a surreal story, that was funny, fast paced, and packed with intelligent dialog. Every second was a thrill. WARNING this movie is not for those who are ADD. If you cannot give this film the attention it deserves, you should go outside and play in traffic, you would be better served. Both William and Meg deserve Oscar's for this one. This should be one of the biggest box office hits of the year. The problem is when a good movie comes out and there is not enough advertising nobody ever knows about it. This is one of those must see movies of the decade. It is a best in the world of motion pictures you will ever experience. I have watched the movie three times. It is one of those movies that gets better every time you watch it. Sincerely John Quest Emerald Sunrise Productions.
