Critic Reviews

• Richard Roeper, Ebert & Roeper

  They've got to do something else with these poker movies.

• Mark Olsen, Los Angeles Times

  Reynolds doesn't convey any of the lightning bolt insouciance that made him arguably the greatest movie star of the '70s and '80s (really) but rather just stands there.

• Michael Rechtshaffen, Hollywood Reporter

  Success isn't in the cards for this plodding poker drama.

• Wesley Morris, Boston Globe

  Deal could use a touch of the slickness that's making the blackjack drama 21 such a greasy hit.

• J. R. Jones, Chicago Reader

  A product of the recent poker craze, this can't compare with the movie that helped launch it, John Dahl's tense Rounders.

• John Anderson, Variety

  Deal is perhaps too briskly paced: The narrative moves along a bit too fleetingly for any genuine character development.

• Kelly Vance, East Bay Express

  An embarrassingly toothless and endlessly boring story about characters we barely get to know doing things that are more exciting than they make it seem.

• Mike Scott, Times-Picayune

  As a piece of entertainment, it's like being dealt a pair of twos: You could certainly do worse, but ...

• Andrew L. Urban, Urban Cinefile

  It's not the cards you play but the people . . . which is why poker movies (in this case Texas Hold'em) are far more interesting than many sports movies

• Christopher Null, Filmcritic.com

  so gossamer thin that it's hard to feel strongly about it one way or the other

• Jules Brenner, Cinema Signals

  There is so little originality here and so much faking it that it hardly justifies critical analysis.

• Rossiter Drake, San Francisco Examiner

  The outcome is never in question, but for fans of the game, even simulated action is preferable to perfunctory drama.

• David Cornelius, DVDTalk.com

  Highly derivative, embarrassingly hollow.

• Andrea Chase, Killer Movie Reviews

  There is more complexity in a sub-par episode of the Teletubbies than in anything to be found in Deal

• Carol Cling, Las Vegas Review-Journal

  There are plenty of movies that prove entertaining despite their familiarity; this isn't one of them.

• Alex Markerson, E! Online

  You've got to know when to walk away from a movie like this: right away, and that's only if you can't run.

• M. K. Terrell, Christian Science Monitor

  A raft of pros appear as themselves, but this story will likely seem less exciting than an actual competition.

• Pete Hammond, Boxoffice Magazine

  Thoroughly predictable in every way including an obvious ending that tries unsuccessfully to bluff the audience, Deal feels fake and trite.

• Brian Tallerico, The Deadbolt

  About now is when a critic would throw in a reference to a low poker hand to compare it to, but Deal can't even rise to a pair of twos.

• Daniel M. Kimmel, Worcester Telegram & Gazette

  ...a movie making a brief stop at local theaters on its way to DVD bargain bins and cable showings at two in the morning.

Read all 20 critic reviews