Apologies for "The Deal"

Even though "The Deal," a film I co-wrote with Nick Angelo, was filmed two years ago, I didn't have a chance to see it until last night. The film had only been released in Europe. Nick Angelo secured a copy from the UK and a region 2 player so we could have some friends over and watch it.

Let me start by saying this to anyone who's seen it: I'm sorry. I assure you, I'm a much better writer than this. I've often said, there are things you do for love and there are things you do for money. This was done purely for money.

While the script was never meant to be brilliant or even exceptional, I can assure you the original draft was much better than this. It was competent. It made sense.

Most interesting about watching the film was seeing the very bizarre flashback sequences and the new scenes that Angelo and I had never written. However, that's still no excuse. I knew that the final draft of the script was worse than where it started.

If nothing else, I will always be honest with you. If I write something that doesn't turn out well, I'll be the first to admit it. In other words, Don't watch this movie!

I'm happy to have a produced credit (important in Hollywood) and to have been paid. But I'm much prouder of my comic book projects as I have creative control over them. And, perhaps in the near future, I will get another screenplay made that ends up as a better product. When I do, I'll let you know. Until then, skip this movie.

What's "The Deal?"

I sold a screenplay originally titled "Deal with the Devil" to a production company several years ago. As the script went through rewrites, it became, well, let's just use Orwellian doublespeak to say ungood (which is better than double-plus ungood).

However, I was pleasantly surprised by the cast which included Penelope Ann Miller ("The Relic," "Carlito's Way," "The Freshman"), Henry Thomas ("E.T.") and Dean Stockwell ("Quantum Leap," Battlestar Galactica" and so much more).

Needless to say, I'm ambivalent about watching this film. Fortunately, I don't have to worry about it yet. Despite the movie wrapping production over a year ago, it still hasn't appeared on DVD.

Until now.

I recently discovered the film has been released in Europe. Below is the cover art:


I'll admit our title (the infamous Nick Angelo was my co-writer) was far from original, but we would have gladly come up with something more interesting than their shortened, bland version of just "The Deal." "The Deal" sounds like a documentary on business practices with your host, Donald Trump.

At any rate, I discovered on a site that seems akin to Netflix (here is the official link: (http://www.lovefilm.com/product/88263-The-Deal.html), two viewer comments. Here they are:

Worth watching
Didn't know any of the cast so was pleasantly surprised. the opening 5-10mins has you wondering what it's all about but in a good way. Good film well worth watching as little bit different.

Rotten!
Obviously made for syndicate USA and Spain - bad acting and even poorer script/story line non existent. Give it a miss.

Of course, I haven't seen it yet, but I'm more inclined to believe the latter. After all, I was there for the rewrites - eight drafts, each one slightly worse than the one before.

If you haven't guessed, I do not endorse this film. However, I am proud to have a produced film under my belt. Sound hypocritical? Welcome to Hollywood.