What's the dealio with The Deal? Well... Christian Slater's in it. Selma Blair's in it. What's it about? The Deal is a thriller set in the world of insider trading and the oil market. Sounds like a bore? Well, the film is fairly knowledgable about its information. The screenplay has a lot of "insider" gobbledegook. The characters talk the talk, but can they walk the walk?
The Deal, on a thriller level, gets lost in its own plot. Tom Hanson (Christian Slater) slogs through a maze of narrative. Too much information, too little time. The world of Wall Street is hard to wrap your head around as it is. The strength of the film lies in its strong cast, sure handed look, and intelligent ideas.
In Dolby Digital 5.1, the mix is very solid. There is some nice directionality, and at times, the viewer is put in the world of insider trading (whatever that means). The 1.85:1 Widescreen anamorphic transfer looks nice.
I was recently watching Oliver Stone's Wall Street. In constrast to The Deal, Stone's film has much more clarity. And I'm not just talking in terms of information, but also with the protagonist's ethical choices. The result is a powerful movie. The Deal needed to follow the KISS principle (keep it simple, stupid). There's a good movie in there somewhere.
The Deal is a pretty big deal of a movie
Here's a film that doesn't seem to have gotten a fair shake. The Deal is a darn good story about corruption, greed, oil, politics, murder, and all sorts of nasty things going on behind Wall Street doors by some of those three-piece suit types. Christian Slater is a fine actor, Selma Blair proves quite charming, and no movie has ever been hurt by the casting of Robert Loggia. The fact that such a story is all too believable in today's world serves as a hook of sorts - or maybe not. All I know is that The Deal is an effective thriller featuring some nice plot twists (although I did see some of them coming - and I'm not usually that good at picking up on things) inside a juicy story.
Here's the setting for the film: America is at war with the "Confederation of Arab states," gas is over six bucks a gallon and going nowhere but up, and the economy is seriously on the skids. Condor, led by its celebrated CEO Jared Tolson (Loggia), is working on a deal to ease America's gas shortage (not to mention fatten his pockets to overflowing) - a merger with Blackstar, a Russian company with deep oil reserves in Kazakhstan (well, supposedly). All he needs is a hot-shot Wall Street wonderboy from a prestigious company to sweet talk his board into accepting the deal - and that's where Tom Grover (Slater) comes in (after candidate #1, Grover's best friend, gets iced at the start of the movie). Grover works for an ultra-prestigious firm that is also feeling the economic crunch and could certainly use the $25 million dollars Tom will bring in just by helping Tolson sell the merger. He signs on, even though he isn't exactly an expert at evaluating geological reports, etc. That's actually one of the reasons he was chosen, though - Tolson's boys aren't exactly high on Grover doing a lot of research on the fields in question.
Representing the forces of good is Abbey Gallagher (Blair), a Harvard graduate who wants to save the world and has an innovative idea for helping those seeking alternative energy sources further their research. The snake pit of Wall Street is the last place she wants to be, but Gordon convinces her that his company can make her alternative energy dream a reality (because the company can make money by doing so). The two become close (apparently, Gordon has no qualms about dating an employee), which ultimately puts Abby in danger when Gordon finds out some disturbing truths about his big deal with Tolson. That, of course, sets the stage for a suspenseful ending. With himself and Abby in danger, his company sitting on a potential time bomb that could bring it to its knees, and - lest we forget - the national security interests of the whole country at stake, what will Gordon do? What can he do?
The Deal never manages to be edge-of-your-seat thrilling, but it is certainly suspenseful. It's also quite relevant in today's world of government corruption, unethical business practices, and moral ambiguity. The deal itself is the kind of thing J.R. Ewing would probably be cooking up if Dallas were still on the air - but J.R. would have done a better job of it.
Moral Ambiguity of Wall Street
Christian Slater serves as Executive Producer & star of this drama. It's the kind of Wall Street high intrigue where ethics takes a back seat to profits. This is producer Harvey Kahn's 2nd turn as director after his straight-to-video film "Water's Edge" in 2002. Christian Slater plays Tom Hansen who comes into a deal with Condor Oil & Gas after his best friend is murdered. Slater who was first noticed in "The Name of the Rose" in 1986 with Sean Connery and then appeared in "Bed of Roses" & "Broken Arrow" in 1996 and in "Mindhunters" this year is an interesting and intense actor whose mannerisms remind me of Jack Nicholson. As Hansen, he works for a firm whose high ethical reputation Condor wants to use to put forward a shady billion dollar oil deal to import oil from an area in Russia in which there is no oil. The fact that it would be smuggled from Arab countries with which the U.S. has banned itself from doing business has resulted in the oil-laundering scheme. Robert Loggia who played with David Ducovney in "Return to Me" and was nominated for his lone Oscar nod as supporting actor in "Jagged Edge" in 1985 plays Jared Tolson, a high powered wheeler-dealer who includes assassination and kidnapping as necessary negotiating tools. Tolson passes the deal to Hansen, hoping his inexperience in oil will lead him to overlook the flaws in the deal. Slater's Hansen is having trouble finding a girl. Angie Harmon from the "Law & Order" TV series and the upcoming "Fun With Dick & Jane" with Jim Carrey & Tea Leoni plays Anna, who appears to have great interest in Tom, only to let her American accent drop and reveal she's an operative for the Russian mafia who will murder to make sure the deal goes through. After flirting with Anna, Hansen hires Abbey Gallagher, who he finally beds, only to drop her from the Condor deal when her life is threatened. Gallagher is played by Selma Blair from "Cruel Intentions," "Legally Blonde" & "The Fog." She investigates and puts her life in danger as she uncovers the truth about the deal. Gallagher's advisor is Professor Roseman played by John Heard who encourages her. Oil expert Hank at the firm is miffed that a novice like Hansen has been given the Condor deal and begins working to uncover the truth also. Played by Colm Feore from "The Highwayman" with Jim Caviezel, "Chicago," & "Paycheck" with Ben Affleck, Hank finally blows the whistle at the company meeting, only to be outmaneuvered. Francois Yip who also plays with Slater in this year's "Alone in the Dark" plays Janice who helps Hansen take his concerns to the ethics panel after Gallagher is safe. Then we get to the moral relativity of the picture as a U.S. Senator intervenes saying that the bogus deal is an act of patriotism since gas is over $6 a gallon and we need the oil, even if we have to pretend it's not coming from designated terrorist states. The film's moral ambiguity leaves us on a disquieting note. While not explaining why we simply don't press for energy sources other than fossil fuels, it does smack of real-world compromise. Slater does a good job in a film with a timely topic as we scramble for gas here in the Southeast after Hurricane Katrina disrupted the pipelines. Enjoy!
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