MGMReview in a Hurry: This movie was better when it was called The Color of Money, when it was about pool instead of poker and when it was directed by Martin Scorsese instead of Gil Cates Jr.—and when it didn't suck.
The Bigger Picture: 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. Burt Reynolds stars as a onetime cardsharp, away from the felt for decades, who takes a talented, mildly bratty fledgling (Bret Harrison) under his wing and schools him in the game's more human elements. Along the way they have a falling-out, predictably setting the stage for a titanic confrontation.
Throw in some by-the-numbers subplots (minor family strife, an ill-fated romance with a working girl), frame it with some ill-managed poker action that's confusing to people who don't know the game and aggravating to those who do and that's all the movie you're going to get.
The rest is a series of clumsy infomercials for various gambling and booze entities featuring assorted poker celebrities who should know better and actors who should have better agents. (Shannon Elizabeth and Jennifer Tilly—both accomplished players—manage to slide into both categories.)
The one thing Deal has going for it is that with so many marketing departments clearly having a heavy hand in its manufacture, it's hard to assign blame for this debacle to anyone in particular; anyone involved who currently has a career probably won't lose it over this mess.
The 180—a Second Opinion: The movie has two or three genuinely human moments, all courtesy of Reynolds and his more grown-up contemporaries. They each last four or five seconds, tops. Deal has a running-time of 86 minutes. Those just aren't great odds.