Let's get one thing clear first; the much-publicised hype regarding the subject matter of this movie did not influence me in any way. Yes, a film about such violent, but everyday, death will have it's critics, but they won't bother to see it anyway. One look at the casting credits & you'd imagine you'd be on to a sure-fire winner; alas, the adage "never judge a book..." is so true here. The clumsy camera work, shoddy editing & uninspired locations, combined with a lack-lustre script, make this feel as if it's a college project gone horribly wrong. All stories have a beginning, middle & end. The story here hurried the beginning & rushed it's end in order, no doubt, to explore the meat of the middle. Unfortunately, I felt the middle decidedly lacking in any texture. Mackenzie Crook looked ill at ease throughout, showing no balance of emotion & Sir Anthony Sher was superfluous to the "plot". It fell to Colm Meaney & Imelda Staunton to provide the only characters worthy of my time, but they too, surely, must've been putting faith into the guys at the cutting room to turn their clichéd lines into something worth seeing. I'm afraid, they were let down badly.
Review of A Deal Is a Deal
