The Deal

Overview:

It is approaching an election in the UK when the leader of the Labour party, John Smith, suffers another in a line of heart attacks and dies. With the leadership campaign about to start the clear choice appears to be Gordon Brown, a stanch Scotsman. However Tony Blair is also beginning to appear more likely as he will appeal to Southern voters who would be turned off by Brown. Blair rings Brown to arrange a meeting to discuss which will go for the job. The film flashbacks to the start of their relationship, sharing an office in Westminster on their first seats.

Director:

Stephen Frears

Status:

Released

Language:

English

Buget:

$0.00

Revenue:

$0.00

Key words:

based on true story
british politics
british prime minister

Cast

David Morrissey

~ as ~

Gordon Brown

Matt Blair

~ as ~

Ed Balls

Michael Sheen

~ as ~

Tony Blair

Dexter Fletcher

~ as ~

Charlie Whelan

Frank Kelly

~ as ~

John Smith

Stuart McQuarrie

~ as ~

Scottish MP 1

Ian Hanmore

~ as ~

Scottish MP 2

Paul Rhys

~ as ~

Peter Mandelson

Stuart Bowman

~ as ~

Journalist 1

Gordon Kennedy

~ as ~

John Brown

View full cast & crew

Reviews (1)

r96sk
Written 8 month(s) ago
7
'The Deal' is a pretty good television movie, one that details British politics involving Tony Blair and Gordon Brown in the 80s and 90s. The best feature of it is the performances of David Morrissey (Brown) and Michael Sheen (Blair), both of whom are certainly excellent.

It does come across as a bit too chummy and re-enactment-y at times, as in some scenes are clearly the work of hearsay and rumour (albeit likely true). I don't necessarily mean that as a criticism, though. Overall, it is a well written film, I definitely enjoyed watching the thing; it's short as well.