THE LAST DEAL movie poster | ©2023 Scatena & Rosner Films

THE LAST DEAL movie poster | ©2023 Scatena & Rosner Films

Rating: R
Stars: Anthony Molinari, Sala Baker, Mister Fitzgerald, Jeffri Lauren, Mike Ferguson, Kenny Johnston, Orion McCabe, Audra Van Hees, April Lang, Jamil Zraikat, Tim Willis, Linda Burzynkski, James Logan, Conner Floyd, Eliana Saenz
Writer: Jonathan Salemi
Director: Jonathan Salemi
Distributor: Scatena & Rosner Films
Release Date: February 7, 2023 (theatrical); March 31, 2023 (digital)

THE LAST DEAL is the kind of movie that major studios used to make as vehicles for the likes of Jeff Bridges or Sean Penn in their younger days.

As it is, the film is an indie, starring Anthony Molinari as Vince, a Los Angeles marijuana dealer who narrates for us. We might suppose that California Prop. 64, which legalized cannabis in 2016, would make life easier for people in Vincent’s line of work.

Instead, it hugely complicates things. Now, product is subject to regulations and inspections. There’s government corruption on the legal side, and very shady people on the old outlaw side. Vince has to compete with dispensaries and prescriptions.

The ins and outs of all this, as chronicled by writer/director Jonathan Salemi, are actually interesting. For a while, THE LAST DEAL feels something like a diligent NPR report, getting into the nitty-gritty of how the pot industry has changed. Because this impacts the characters directly, the facts have dramatic weight instead of simple informational value.

Vince is going broke, which makes him desperate. With friend and business partner Bobby (Mister Fitzgerald), Vince decides to borrow money from one group of gangsters to buy a large amount of “flower” from another group of gangsters. As we might expect, it doesn’t take long for things to go very wrong.

At this point, THE LAST DEAL becomes more of a conventional crime thriller, especially in its third act. After all the specifics about marijuana growth and distribution, what we get on Vince’s background is disappointingly general, despite a solid performance by April Lang as his concerned but uninvolved mother. There are also some third-act story flourishes that are more conventional than convincing.

Molinari delivers a persuasive central turn as Vince, who strikes us as a genuinely decent guy. We believe him as he struggles to puzzle things out and find the best option. We also get that Vince doesn’t seem to fully understand, until it’s too late, that just because the drugs in question aren’t “hard,” a lot of people involved with them are.

Fitzgerald is credible as the job-hopping Bobby, and Sala Baker has calm menace as one of the major players in the game.

Filmmaker Salemi gets a lot of good mileage of his Los Angeles County environs, setting scenes in little pockets where we can easily imagine this type of activity happening without police or public notice. It’s also handsome and makes use of areas we don’t often see.

THE LAST DEAL doesn’t wholly deliver on its early promise, but for fans of fare like CISCO PIKE, it’s worth a watch.

Related: Movie Review:  NIGHTMARE RADIO: THE NIGHT STALKER
Related: Movie Review:  ARE YOU THERE GOD? IT’S ME,  MARGARET
Related: Movie Review: EVIL DEAD RISE
Related: Movie Review: RENFIELD
Related: Movie Review: THE POPE’S EXORCIST
Related: Movie Review: STRAIN 100
Related: Movie Review: HOW TO BLOW UP A PIPELINE
Related: Movie Review: THE STRANGE CASE OF JACKY CAILLOU
Related: Movie Review: DUNGEONS & DRAGONS: HONOR AMONG THIEVES
Related: Movie Review: MALUM
Related: Movie Review: FOREST OF DEATH
Related: Movie Review: HYPNOTICA (aka UNHINGED)
Related: Movie Review: ADALYNN
Related: Movie Review: JOHN WICK: CHAPTER 4
Related: Movie Review: FOLLOWERS
Related: Movie Review: THE LOST KING
Related: Movie Review: MOVING ON
Related: Movie Review: SCREAM VI
Related: Movie Review: UNWELCOME
Related: Movie Review: SOUND OF SILENCE
Related: Movie Review: PUNCH
Related: Movie Review: CREED III
Related: Movie Review: CHILDREN OF THE CORN (2023)
Related: Movie Review: COCAINE BEAR
Related: Movie Review: LUTHER: THE FALLEN SUN
Related: Movie Review: THE LONG DARK TRAIL
Related: Movie Review:THE QUIET GIRL (AN CAILÍN CIÚN)
Related: Movie Review: ANT-MAN AND THE WASP: QUANTUMANIA
Related: Movie Review: PROJECT WOLF HUNTING (NEUGDAESANYANG)
Related: Movie Review: 88
Related: Movie Review: SHE CAME FROM THE WOODS
Related: Movie Review: HUSERA: THE BONE WOMAN
Related: Movie Review: THE OUTWATERS
Related: Movie Review: CONSECRATION
Related: Movie Review: SKINAMARINK
Related: Movie Review: A LOT OF NOTHING
Related: Movie Review: KNOCK AT THE CABIN
Related: Movie Review: 80 FOR BRADY
Related: Movie Review: ALIVE
Related: Movie Review: INFINITY POOL
Related: Movie Review: FEAR
Related: Movie Review: ALICE, DARLING
Related: Movie Review: THERE’S SOMETHING WRONG WITH THE CHILDREN
Related: Movie Review: THE OFFERING
Related: Movie Review: HUMAN RESOURCES
Related: Movie Review: M3GAN
Related: Movie Review: THE PALE BLUE EYE
Related: Movie Review: BABYLON
Related: Movie Review: JOYRIDE
Related: Movie Review: SCARE PACKAGE II: RAD CHAD’S REVENGE
Related: Movie Review: WOMEN TALKING
Related: Movie Review: AVATAR: THE WAY OF WATER
Related: Movie Review: AVATAR: THE WAY OF WATER
Related: Movie Review: MINDCAGE
Related: Movie Review: MISTER CREEP
Related: Movie Review: THE APOLOGY
Related: Movie Review: THE CHRISTMAS TAPES
Related: Movie Review: EMPIRE OF LIGHT

Follow us on Twitter at ASSIGNMENT X
Like us on Facebook at ASSIGNMENT X

Article Source: Assignment X
Article: Movie Review:  THE LAST DEAL

Related Posts:

Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Leave a Comment

CAPTCHA Image
*
Increase your website traffic with Attracta.com

Dr.5z5 Open Feed Directory

bottom round