User reviews

The Deal is a wacky and frenetic Hollywood insider movie about a movie, in the spirit of Altman's The Player or Mamet's State and Main. Written by and starring the extremely talented William H. Macy and directed by his long-time friend and veteran TV movie director Steven Schachter, The Deal is part vanity piece, part industry insider self-indulgence and wholly funny.

Macy plays Charlie Berns, a one-hit wonder Hollywood producer with no money and no prospects and on the verge of suicide. Interrupting his plans is his nephew Lionel (Jason Ritter), who knocks on his door at the propitious moment, carrying his script about Benjamin Disraeli and looking for Uncle Charlie's help in Hollywood. Ignoring the script, Charlie returns to his morbid task, only to spot an article about a blockbuster action-hero movie star (L.L. Cool J) who has recently converted to Judaism and is looking for a Jewish film for his next project. Seeing a glimmer of hope, Charlie hatches an outrageous seat-of-your-pants scheme to coerce a studio into approving this preposterous pairing. Assigned to the project is Diedre Hearn, a second-tier studio exec (played by Meg Ryan, still trying to transition from her girl-next-door pedigree). Charlie is smitten, and resurrected, "Ben Disraeli – Freedom Fighter" gets green-lighted and the fun begins. There's even a role for Elliott Gould, playing a rabbi who serves as a technical adviser and "Assistant Producer" to the film! I guess Macy decided that at 57 if he was ever going to play a leading man, he was going to have to personally drive the project. And he has written himself a plum role—a multi-dimensional character with a lot of funny lines and Meg Ryan as a love interest! Charlie Berns has suffered all the indignities that Hollywood can dish out. But he's learned enough tricks, and developed enough chutzpah that with a little luck he can really work the system. Macy plays the role with unflappable charm and impeccable comic timing.

The script bounces around a bit, and probably bounces a couple of times too many. The "resolution" feels a little like an add-on, and perhaps could have been left out. So while I doubt this movie will do great things at the box office, it certainly entertained the Sundance crowd.

Sundance Moment: Macy told the long story of how difficult it was to get the project funded, which is a recurring Sundance (and Hollywood) theme. They passed out red yarmulkas to the crowd, and many wore them while watching the movie.

Before watching The Deal I read some positive reviews from over excited people, thought I was going to be in for a treat, certainly with William H. Macy and Meg Ryan in the cast, two actors that I appreciate, but in the end it was just disappointing. The acting was good though, but the story is just a bit boring. And it's not the couple comedy scenes that were going to save this picture. I wished I liked it more but I didn't, I was actually glad when I saw the end credits appear, felt like a three hour movie instead of half that time.

Saw it last night (April 5th) at Philly Film Festival. Mr. Macy, Jason Ritter and Fiona Glascott were all present and were gracious to the max.

This film was clearly a labor of love and had a very difficult "birthing". But it never connected with me in any significant way (especially the "quasi-insider making of a movie" road it took us down).

Macy as ALWAYS is magnificent. Meg Ryan is...well Meg Ryan and that is NOT all things bad. I think Jason Ritter has a great future in the business (and did fine work in the late and very lamented TV Show Joan of Arcadia too).

But I thought the plot as far as I could discern it was both muddled and totally unbelievable. I know it made sense to folks more in tune with things that could go right/wrong/changes of direction in getting a film greenlighted and made.But I'm far from an insider so the references were quite lost on me for the most part.

To me it doesn't quite make it as satire (or I didn't get it) and not funny enough to be a sustained comedy.

But I truly hope it is just me and this film gets an audience and makes $$ for those (especially Mr. Macy) who put their heart, soul and funds into its making.

Bill Macy, Meg Ryan, Elliot Gould, and LL Cool J star in "The Deal" from 2008, directed by Steven Schachter and written by Macy and Schacter.

Macy plays another loser, this time Charlie Berns, who has a couple of producer credits on his resume, but they're not recent, and he can't get arrested. His nephew (Jason Ritter) gives him his script about Benjamin Disraeli to read. He's not interested in it but then he sees an article about a major star in adventure films, Bobby Mason (LL Cool J) who has converted to Judaism and wants to do a film with a Jewish theme for his next project.

Charlie manages to convince a studio that he has Bobby Mason's next kick your butt film and a studio executive, Deidre (Meg Ryan) is assigned to make it happen. Soon "Bill & Ben" is being filmed, with Berns' heartbroken nephew screaming, "There's not one word of my script in this." Then Bobby Mason is kidnapped and held for ransom, and the studio doesn't want to pay. But Deidre has an idea.

We've seen these behind the scenes getting a movie made before, and this is absurd but quite good. And how absurd is it? Probably not far off. Macy is excellent as Berns, who has been around the block a few times and knows how to talk his way into and out of trouble. This movie took a while to get made, so there's no doubt Macy knew what he was talking about when he wrote the script - I'm sure it wasn't a new experience for him.

Ryan's role could have been played by anyone, but at 47 and once the ingénue du jour (as Rene Zwelleger, Reese Witherspoon, Julia Roberts, Susan Sarandon, and Sally Field once were), she has a problem. While leading men are leading men from the time they're in their twenties until death, pert, pretty young actresses have a limited shelf life, and the transition to lead woman not only is difficult, it's often not even worth it since that doesn't last long either. Today things are much better -- at least 30 is no longer the cut-off like it was in Bette Davis' day -- but the fact remains, unless your name is Meryl Streep, you'll be in character roles by the time you're 55. If you have a job. So I can't blame her for doing this role.

Good, enjoyable movie, especially if you're a writer and know what happens to scripts in Hollywood.

I discovered this movie by accident today. Just scrolling through suggestions on Prime, and there it was. And I thought Oh! A Meg Ryan film I'm not familiar with?! And William H. Macy too! Now, the fact that I've never heard of it did give me pause, but I thought it was worth a shot with the two of them in the leads. I barely (and I do mean BARELY) made it through the first half hour. It's just so SOOOOOOO bad. So boring. I have much better things to do than sit through drivel like this. - And so do you!

The Deal is a terrifyingly accurate portrayal of cut-throat Hollywood. Williams H Macy stars as a producer on a relentless pursuit of getting his movie made. Meg Ryan co-stars as a studio head in this dry comedy. William H Macy can do more than just act. HE CAN WRITE! He transcends his normal boundaries of story-telling as a stunning character actor, to bringing charters alive from the page. He is charming and brings the whole idea of "delightful destruction" to his character while mocking the Hollywood film industry. If you like Meg Ryan then you will not be disappointed with this film. She brings the Meg Ryan we know and love to this character. LL Cool J also stars as a Jewish action star in this comedy that you will not want to miss!

I bought this Blu-ray thinking to be another one, finally when l start to watch realize my lack of attention, however the picture didn't disappoint me entirely, but the plot is very questionable, making a Jewish movie using a black character is completely insane, a nice view behind the scenes how works making movies, glad to see after a hiatus Meg Ryan and the fine actor William H. Macy again...and Elliott Gould of course.

Resume:

First watch: 2017 / How many: 1 / Source: Blu-ray / Rating: 6.25

Wow. This is tiresome.

It's boring and pointless and there is absolutely no humor.

Obviously this movie is made for Jewish people who work in and around Hollywood or New York and not for anybody from another culture.

This is insulting to anybody who is not Jewish.

There is endless yapping, love scenes which spring out of nowhere and a plot that also goes nowhere - because it appears from nowhere.

I have nothing against any religion or nationality, but this just sucks.

It's not only insulting to anybody who is Jewish - but also to anybody who isn't Jewish.

Basically, it's insulting to everybody.

The only people who can appreciate this on any level are the people that worked on the film in any capacity, because there is nothing else to enjoy. They made a few more connections, they made a paycheck, some got to travel and they get credit for something that is listed on IMDB - another notch, only not of anything of interest.

This was compared to Bowfinger - which in no way should it be.

Bowfinger is in no way any comparison.

Bowfinger is actually funny and has a plot which can relate to almost anybody - in Hollywood or not - and it doesn't segregate any religions or nations. The entire story of Bowfinger is a laugh from the first minute to the last - and it makes sense - even to 10 year old kids.

This is straight garbage - and as good as the people played their parts, they still were bad- because the story was bad - except for some few Jewish people who work in the film industry. They will find this intriquing for some mysterious reason.

The high rating system on here is constructed of the people involved in this mess, because nobody else on the planet would find it funny - even in a dark humorous sense. There is no comedy or dramedy - there is only tiresome boring nothingness compounded with endless chatter about faith of some religion.

If this was made by Catholics - it would suck, if this was made by Buddhists or Hindus, Islams, Baptists or Lutherans or any other religious sect on the planet - regardless which one chosen - it would still suck.

This was made by Jewish Hollywood business people for a very small group of Jewish Hollywood business people about a very small group of Hollywood business people and it employed a majority of Jewish Hollywood business people.

This is more racist than almost any other film I've ever seen - and it doesn't even entertain in any capacity. Even if I was Jewish - it would bore me - because it just sucks!

I don't have to be Jewish or understand the religion in any capacity to realize there is nothing here. There's a story which is about 1 hour and 40 minutes long and it's just a dreadful bore to sit through - and not even as entertaining as this review.

Any other Jewish people will be lost on this if they have no connection with any high sections of movie making. Even if they worked in the production office or accounting or as a crew member, they won't get the story - because it lost it's focus after 3 minutes of starting.

Congratulations if you are 1 of 3000 people that watched this film and understood it in any capacity. You are the rare and limited audience that this went for and somehow magically succeeded.

As horrid as this was, I'm glad it was made - not because it shows promise - but because it shows none. Which means - the executives in Hollywood really have no clue as to what they are signing on for, but if it includes Jewish themes - they hope to save their hides.

This will not be viewed by majority of people - but the amount of money that was spent on this could have made 10 decent budget films which would actually be enjoyed and viewed by millions - but surprisingly, bankers, producers, distributors and financiers decided to put out this crap in hopes of somehow getting a kickback or some sort of payoff further down the line.

Dreadful on so many levels. Regardless of race, this is just a stinker with no redeeming quality.

It's also super racist in it's very own way.

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!

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.

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

It is apparent that Hollywood is spinning out of control and this disaster of a movie proves my point. The casting of Macy with Ryan is complete dribble from some sort of consortium of a casting crew. It comes off like fingernails on a chalkboard. The writing is sophomoric and juvenile. What was Macy thinking and why did Ryan's agent let her take this absolute train wreck from the station? Huge mistake for all involved. Any popcorn purchased should be refunded. While I am talking refunds, who thought putting Gould in this was a good idea? What a shame to taint all these actors careers all in one swoop. Give me my time back!

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.

Even if the script would be funnier: the "effervescent personality" of Meg Ryan gets on your nerves to an extent that makes you want to escape. Namedropping isn't enough for either a comedy or criticism of Hollywood.

A washed-up jaded disillusioned screenwriter takes a great art-house script, ruins it and turns it into an awful action movie all for the benefit of his own personal joke. There's no comedy here and the film development moves so fast it's impossible to follow what's going on, how or indeed why. The lead characters have no chemistry and with no hint of a tongue anywhere near a cheek it would seem this film is one massive joke on the audience. There's no wit, no sense of irony, no cleverness i just sincerely hope this is William H Macy's career nadir because to sink any lower would take a remarkable feat of hitherto unknown physical dexterity on his part. Watching a large tin of emulsion drying would be preferable any day over watching this steaming cow dung of a film ever again.

It simply went on my nerves! What it proved is that people who go into the film-production whirlpool of Hollywood actually lose everything when it comes to their own dignity, self-respect and personality. Perhaps it is what the director meant to do….if so, he did well. William M. Macy took part in writing the screenplay as well as acts the main role, and did a good job of it. However, there are some scenes that feel like repetitions and could have been edited out of the film. There was no point in harping on something so many times. Meg Ryan acts well,yet in this film she really does not have that wonderful, fetching screen presence she usually delivers. I did not enjoy this film despite the fact that it is obvious that the producers tried to do something authentic, original and honest.