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Don't listen to the negative reviews

Don't listen to the Hype. It's awful

A Disappointing Continuation

I am only giving this movie a 1 for the great cast, though I can't imagine what any of them were thinking. This movie was horrible

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.

Possible Spoilers?Not sure what this movie was about, and neither were the writers. It could have been an absurdist romp, ala The Producers - and it almost was. It could have been a commentary on the desperation of those trying to make it in Hollywood, and the estrangements and grief - but it only skirted along the edges of that. It could have been a romantic comedy. But it wasn't. Wm Macy is a truly excellent actor, to be sure - and Meg Ryan shows her acting chops here in a way that is surprising; the rest of the cast is good, too. No faults in that department.It is just ... boring. Nothing unexpected or particularly amusing happens. There is no suspense - we're all pretty sure we know how it's all going to turn out. And we're right. The "complication" of the relationship between the two principals is minor and will clearly be resolved. The plot is predictable from beginning to end, including the conclusion.Although the running time is reported to be 100 minutes it seemed MUCH longer. Disappointing.

No, this movie was not vying for any major awards or trying to teach lessons about humanity. But if you want to get a mostly entertaining/mocking look at the making of a movie and the people involved you could do worse. Macy didn't quite pull off his witty, wise, and blithe (?) character but he is still fun. The rest of the cast hold their own as well(I've never seen much of LL but he was good). Along with the over-the-top characters(Soapdish comes to mind) you may enjoy the not so mainstream humor. I did and I'm sure I may have missed some of the jokes. So for a movie that I happened upon while surfing I was satisfied.

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.