One of the snags with the 'seven basic plots' syndrome is that although it IS possible to isolate and identify seven disparate strings in the fabric of world literature in many instances there is more than one present in a given story and/or elements within plots turn up right across the spectrum. So it is here with yet another take on Shakespeare's Benedek and Beatrice (Much Ado About Nothing), the two people who start out loathing each other and wind up in the sack. Yet that is only one element, albeit at the forefront, of this delightful satire on movie making Hollywood style. Never mind that the movie business is now beyond satire given that nothing a satirist can devise hasn't been or is being done in Hollywood even as the satirist's words strike the computer screen, this is a vastly entertaining film in which the ridiculous - and how about Benjamin Disraeli as a black Jewish freedom fighter - truly is sublime. Double-threat William H. Macey co-wrote the screenplay and stars as a perennial loser who finally, against both the odds and the run of play hits one out of the park. Meg Ryan is Beatrice to his Benedek and also delivers a fine performance. It's a crying shame that after being screened at Sundance this went straight to DVD but with luck it will find the audience it deserves.
Review of The Deal
