Deal of the Century

Plot synopsis:
Eddie Muntz (Chase) is a small-time American arms dealer who talks his way into a job with a large defense corporation selling high-tech military unmanned aerial vehicles to a South American dictator (William Marquez). Muntz arrives in war-torn and impoverished "San Miguel" to sell weapons to both its leader and the rebels seeking his ouster.
In the middle of a sales pitch to the rebels, Muntz is caught in a firefight and is shot in the foot. Hobbling in a rundown hotel days later, Muntz meets Harold DeVoto (Wallace Shawn), a sales rep for the American defense contractor, Luckup.
Muntz peddles small arms (assault rifles, anti-personnel mines, and machine-pistols disguised as cassette tape players), whereas Luckup's product is more sophisticated—the Peacemaker UAV, a military dream that operates without pilots or airbases. But the military junta of San Miguel strings DeVoto along, driving the man to suicide. Muntz successfully takes over the deal and wins a contract worth millions.
On returning to America, he is angrily confronted at gunpoint by Catherine (Sigourney Weaver), Harold's widow. Demanding the contract, Catherine shoots Muntz instead, reopening the wound on his foot. Waking up in the hospital, Muntz is told by Frank Stryker (Vince Edwards), a Luckup executive, that San Miguel reneged on the deal after a distastrous and highly publicized demonstration of the Peacemaker.
Muntz nevertheless decides to help Luckup re-sign San Miguel. He is joined by his partner, Ray Kasternak (Gregory Hines), an ex-fighter pilot now undergoing a religious crisis of conscience, and also by Catherine. Muntz's efforts are complicated by tensions with Luckup, Ray's religious conversion, "The Peacemaker's" many technical glitches, and his own growing moral reservations.
On the eve of a major defense industry exposition, Muntz is visited by Massagi (Richard Libertini), an immensely wealthy arms merchant who both encourages him to finalize the San Miguel deal and coaches him on how to do it. Massagi reveals that the global arms industry has a stake in sales of weapons like the Peacemaker because they allow for localized and conventional wars that will keep their business viable into the next century. Massagi also explains how recent changes to federal law not only legalize bribes to foreign dictators, but make those bribes tax deductible. These revelations spur Muntz on, while also adding to his unease.
Muntz accompanies San Miguel's dictator to the weapons expo, where billions of dollars of high technology are displayed and demonstrated. To the dictators, Muntz disparages any warplanes he sees, reminding them of the obvious benefits of pilot-less aircraft.
While Muntz demonstrates some of his own wares (including a booby-trapped urinal), Ray hijacks one of the fighter jets being demonstrated, threatening to attack the expo, also daring them to attack him. Ray circles overhead as representatives for defense contractors bicker among themselves as to whose weapons are good enough to shoot him down.
Stryker takes matters into his own hands, launching the Peacemaker. This time, the UAV proves a much more formidable threat, and not even Ray can destroy it. Misusing all of the Peacemaker's weapons, however, Stryker instead destroys the entire expo. Before he can try again for Ray, Muntz uses his cane to shut off the Peacemaker's remote control panel, allowing Ray to destroy it.
In the final scene, we learn that Ray has left the arms industry to become a missionary. Muntz is also out of weapons trafficking, but still a salesman working at his brother's car dealership. He sells Catherine a car, and it's implied that they will be doing other deals together.

Tags: allegory, comedy, satire

Review:
It seems like everyone's opinion on this movie is evenly divided.
Personally, I am not a Chevy Chase fan by any stretch of the imagination.
But I like many of William Friedkin's films so I wanted to give this a chance and went in without too many preconceptions.It obviously can't stand up to a comparison to DR.
However, it still remains a fairly on-target, unflattering satire of the weapons industry and by extrapolation, other mass production industries that love to sell the government and public crap product cosmetically hyped as the next great answer to all their fears and desires, product that ends up being useless or obsolete within a year (if it even works properly in the first place).
There are some pretty funny scenes sprinkled throughout and I was pleasantly surprised through the whole film how much dark, subversively funny jabs Friedkin gets away with.
There's one scene in particular that makes the film well worth seeing --Gregory Hines (I believe it was him) gets into a verbal altercation with another extremely hotheaded driver (a maniacal Tony Plana) (over a fender bender?
it's been a while since I've seen it) -- the verbal sparring quickly escalates into a life-threatening situation and the emotional dynamics the two actors bring to the scene is scarily believable while remaining extremely funny.
This scene alone provides a microcosmic metaphor for the provocations of nations going to war and perfectly illustrates the pointless absurdity of aggressive behaviour in general.
Also of note, it's great to see the underrated Vince Edwards in a large supporting role as the ruthless air weapons manufacturer.
DEAL OF THE CENTURY is never less than amusing and has some extremely funny sequences -- much better than many of these IMDb reviews would lead you to believe..
I loved this movie when it came out, and I still think it's one of Friedkin's most under- rated efforts.
The jokes are not the usual Chevvy Chase, fall on his ass kind of thing, but for the most part have an actual point behind them.
Where the film failed, I think, is culturally; audiences at the multiplex tend not to like to have to think about the entertainments they consume, so the movie got lukewarm reviews, and poor audiences.
Look at the scene for example, where Gregory Hines' character is accosted by a mugger, and the way in which the scene escalates, for a perfect mini-allegory of the cold war, and the simplicity of its essential "strategies."In truth, the movie falls between two stools, in terms of the audience it was aiming at.
It might be the case too, that because its satirical target is the military, some thought it as somehow "anti-American" and stayed away for that reason.
It also features  a rarity for American commercial movies  a black man in a major, well-thought out role who's not just a comedy sidekick for the hero.
This is a must see for any Chevy Chase fan or anyone who has ever worked at a large defense subcontractor!
I've worked at big companies (both defense and commercial) and this movie portrays them quite accurately.
Chevy is at his finest as the movie plays his character's extreme comical greed (i.e. will sell any weapon to anyone for any reason) against Gregory Hines' burgeoning conscience about their chosen profession.
Because Chevy plays an humorously amoral individual rather than his usually lovably goofy, one I think many viewers were shocked.
I didn't think that the humor in this film was subtle; but apparently for many, it was.
It is a satirical look at the industry of arms sales.
Chevy Chase is an independent broker who sells rifles, grenades, rocket launchers, etc.
Gregory Hines is his business partner who is becoming a born again Christain and therefore developing a moral crisis over the implications of their work, which is brilliantly exemplified in a scene where he is sent to Long Beach to check out a good deal on flamethrowers and listens to the client describe them as "house warmers" because in North Africa the paramilitary uses them to burn village huts in order to find out who resides in them- a preferable alternative to knocking on doors.
This movie is for people who want to learn about the ugly convergence of business and war peppered with a handful of great jokes about the subject.
This country was founded on it!"The movie Lord of War with Nicolas Cage is about to be released, and from the trailer it looks like the writer saw Deal of the Century and decided to update it for 2005..
The overall plot of this movie is weak however there are A LOT of memorable scenes.
These scenes make me watch this movie a couple times a year.
I think it's one of Chevy's better performances.
His narration in the movie helps add to the overall comical tone.If you are at all a Chevy Chase fan and enjoy his older work (Caddyshack, Fletch, etc.) this is definitely worth renting..
While this wasn't one of the best movies I've seen, it had some really nice comedic bits in it.
I particularly liked Wallace Shawn doing the anxious salesman, and Gregory Hines as the born-again who gets the ultimate revenge.Worth seeing just for these two bits, plus a few other great moments..
Deal of the Century is for those with an appreciation of the absurd.
The film is a humorous, critical portrait of the hypocrisy behind Ronald Reagan's deadly cold war shenanigans.
Its a political comedy -- very well directed by William Friedkin (The French Connection, The Exorcist).
Chevy Chase is perfectly cast as a cynical arms dealer.
And the late, great, Gregory Hines, as his partner, disenchanted with the arms business and suddenly filled with pathos, desperately and hilariously turns from heavy-weapons to Jesus.
Deal of the Century is a serious action comedy that stars Chevy Chase, Sigourney Weaver, Gregory Hines, Vince Edwards, Richard Libertini, Bradford English, and Charles Levin!
Chase and Weaver had good charisma together and they both looked really different.
William Friedkin's directing is great.
Give this movie a chance because its a very different film and the cast are in serious roles.
So anyone who likes Chevy Chase, Sigourney Weaver, and Gregory Hines give it a chance and check it out!.
Eddie Muntz is a pervasive black market arms dealer who after a missed sale, meets a fellow salesman Harold in the same field for the US Luckup Corporation while in South America.
After he commits suicide with the stress of waiting by the phone for the government dictator to ring him back to complete the deal.
Eddie answers and takes over the deal which involves a new high-tech, non-pilot plane known as the Peacemaker.
Eddie's work pal Ray has found god, and he's doing his best trying to keep him on the job and Harold's icy widow Catherine wants her share of the prize.William Friedkin's "Deal Of the Century" is somewhere in between a black comedy and frank pot-shot on the international arms trade.
I certainly enjoyed this misunderstood satirical item on an interestingly flavorers topic and the sardonically dark humour was neat treat to the senses.
It can feel like a Chevy Chase vehicle most of the time, as the rest of the cast do pale in comparison.
Sigourney Weaver is there to look good in her steely firebrand performance and Gregory Hines doesn't look too interested throughout.
There's a short comic performance by Wallace Shawn too.The freshly ammo-packed story by Paul Bickerman is complicatedly knotty and obvious with its attacks.
The snappy script works up a creative novelty, smearing it with sneering gags, spicy irony and that of Chase's slyly gruff voice-over narration to string scenes together.
CHEVY CHASE, SIGOURNEY WEAVER,& GREGORY HINES stir up a real deal when they go after the arms race!Its all about money, and where the truth lies in a all out arms deal that does more damage to us than the enemy!
The absolute beautiful Cathrine Devoto played by SIGOURNEY WEAVER is a total dream girl gun carrying, submissive female!This fun filled packed,and very sexy movie out sells them all,and is more deserving than a ten!.
Is this movie a comedy or is it a drama?
It looks like it's a comedy--especially in regard to how they marketed the film.
No, now that I think about it, it's VERY easy to believe that this movie is unappealing.
So many ex-SNL people (especially the original cast) did MANY totally unfunny movies.
Neighbors, Nothing But Trouble, 1941, Dr. Detroit and Funny Farm stand out as prime examples of this curse.Part of my disliking this movie so much may be because I just haven't enjoyed any of the Chevy Chase movies I've seen, whereas many of my extended family members think he is brilliant.
Not the greatest comedy of the century, but still good..
If they expected a "typical" Chevy Chase movie, where he is the star of the show, and don't you forget it, then ...
this is not the movie.This is more along the lines of "Flying High", when there is no one "star" of the file who hogs the limelight.
In this movie, the gags and clever lines are more evenly distributed.
In my mind, this makes for a funnier movie..
Ugh. I perfectly understand the impulse to satirize Cold War nuclear dealings.
And released at the mad height of Reaganomical autocracy, this muddy blotch on the scintillating filmography of a great modern director aspires to be a sharp, shrewd, and audacious satire of the global arms race, but it rarely seizes me, or seemingly any audience, on any considerable comic or intellectual level.
The movie starts promisingly enough with a commercial mocking the arms industry, a promo for the Luckup Industries "Peacemaker," a fighter drone guaranteed to "preserve our way of life," with shots of families and children in the background.
There's a stroke of Dr. Strangelove as the company executives thrash out promotional schemes for the plane, but the fanatical boss wants a more hard-hitting ad crusade, something like, "Why do I fly it?
Not even Chevy Chase's peddling of military wares is ever very funny, though a booby-trapped urinal is clearly intended to be.
Yes, Chevy Chase.
Libertini plays an immensely wealthy arms merchant who explains how recent changes to federal law not only legalize bribes to foreign dictators, but make those bribes tax deductible.But no one concerned appears to have had any clue where the film's tone should've been pitched.
The widow of the Luckup sales rep whose deal is successfully taken over by Chase, one moment she is a matchless fraud, the next she's a brokenhearted widow, and thereafter that she's pursuing Chase and surrendering herself to the General.And Gregory Hines, an ex-fighter pilot now undergoing a religious crisis of conscience.
"Deal Of The Century" was director William Friedkin's attempt to create a "black comedy" satirizing the armaments industry, in much the same way as Stanley Kubrick satirized the nuclear balance of power in "Dr. Strangelove." Unfortunately, it falls short of that ambitious goal.The movie concerns an arms dealer, Eddie Muntz (Chevy Chase), who gets an opportunity to take over the sale of an ultra-advanced pilotless combat aircraft to a dumb South American dictator when the original salesperson dies unexpectedly.
Friedkin clearly thought he was making a great movie here, in the way he diligently employed many of the same elements as "Strangelove": verisimilitude in the names of arms companies and weapon systems, blatant phallic symbolism, sex-obsessed characters, sight gags, and a basically bizarre, unreal plot.
Unfortunately, all Friedkin ends up doing is showing that he is no Kubrick (at least not after "The French Connection" anyway), Chevy Chase is no Peter Sellers, and in general those associated with this movie just aren't in the same league as those who made "Strangelove."  Many of the lines and sight gags just aren't that funny, and the satirical point about the armaments industry gets lost in a meandering plot with an irrelevant subplot about Muntz' romance with the dead salesman's widow (Sigourney Weaver).
An actual romance tended to dilute the satirical effectiveness of the sexual obsessions of the major characters..
You got the director of Sorcerer, you got Chevy Chase, Sigourney Weaver, and Gregory Hines, and a contemporary Dr. Strangelove story, man, it's gonna be something great!Well, unfortunately it is something great.
I don't know what happened, but the movie bombed because it was savaged by critics and ignored by audiences, and for good reason.
The film fails to ignite the outrageous Dr. Strangelove storyline.
Honestly, Friedkin is not the kind of director you call for comedies.
One interesting note is that Friedkin completely throws away his unique induced documentary style and goes classical and traditional for the second time in his career.
Friedkin should have never made this film.
I think he would burn this film if he owned the negative.
Watch Lord of War (2005), it has a similar story and concept, but only slightly better or just watch great films about this same concept like Wag the Dog (1997) or Dr. Strangelove (1964) and Charlie Wilson's War (2007)..
Pretty good, although not altogether successful dark comedy..
Eddie Mintz (Chevy Chase) is a fast-talking arms dealer, who seals weapons to third world countries.
He's a sales rep for the American defense contractor Lock-Up. This mysterious man has an contract that is worth $300 Million.
When he commit suicide, Eddie takes his contract and he actually succeed making an deal.
But the mysterious man widow (Sigourney Weaver) wants part of the money.
Eddie and his soon to be born again Christian partner Ray (The late Gregory Hines) tries to make it an deal done with anyone, who is interested in the contract.
When the deal is nearly done, Ray has second thoughts about the deal and nothing goes as planned.Directed by Oscar-Winner:William Friedkin (Bug, The Exorcist, To Live and Die in L.A.) made an watchable if sometimes amusing dark comedy.
Chase gives 110 percent to his performance, he is entertaining to watch in the movie.
The late Hines is actually pretty good in the movie as well.
Perphas not the devilish satire that some people were expecting and also not as zestfulness as you liked it to be.
But sometimes, the movie comes pretty close to be spot on.DVD has an sharp anamorphic Widescreen (1.85:1) transfer and an good Dolby Stereo 2.0 Surround Sound.
"Deal of the Century" does have some good sequences, some laughs and some fine satire as well but the movie doesn't quite breakthrough.
Perphas more of a curio today, it is one of the rarely seen movies from director Friedkin.
It is certainly worth an look if you are an fan of Friedkin or actor:Chase.
Written by Paul Brickman (Men Don't Leave, Risky Business, True Crime), who also one of the executive producers of the movie.
The US, mindful of Iraqi business, supported them for the first few years, but then sold weapons to Iran to counter Iraq's growing success.
This is as well-researched into its topic as the 'Left Behind' material or a made-for-tv movie.I don't like Chevy Chase, his method of humor is both unsophisticated and dated even for the 80s.
This movie is just plain boring.
It deals with Chase, Weaver, and Hines trying to sell a bunch of pilotless planes to a dictator who looks like Saddam Hussein's chipper twin.
Not that good of a deal!.
The first few minutes of this flick are hilarious with the great character actor Wallace Shawn as a nervous wreck of a salesman.
Gregory Hines has a couple of funny scenes but that's about it..
Remember?Well, here's one to forget.In spite of Friedkin as director, in spite of great special FX and in spite (or maybe because of) Chevy Chase as the star, "Deal of the Century" is more of a swindle.
1983 wasn't a very good year for movies, and here's more proof if you needed it.If this really was the "Deal of the Century", let's all try to hold out until the year 2983, shall we?Two stars.
One for the effects and another for Sigourney Weaver.
Messy satire on selling arms to third world nations that relies too heavily on Chase to carry us through.
Chase does what he can, but even he cannot save Paul Brickman's unimaginative script..
This movie is nothing , but a Hollywood propaganda made against president Ronald Reagan.
I guess Hollywood likes propaganda ("Avatar").Ronald Reagan was one of the best , if not the best president of United States .
It tries to be a black comedy , but there isn't a single good joke here .
There is nice shot of Sigourney Weaver's long sexy legs .
It's sad to see Chevy Chase and Sigourney Weaver in this mess .
Thankfully , the movie didn't destroyed their careers (It's REALLY so bad , believe me) .
Weaver soon made "Ghostbusters " and "Aliens" , while Chase triumphed with "Fletch".If you're looking for good anti-war comedy better watch "Dr. Strangelove" .
If you're looking for good 80's anti-war comedy you should watch "Spies like us" with Chevy Chase and Dan Aykroyd .
Weaver is her usual uncharismatic self, and Chase has never been this unfunny.
there just aren't any movies about the arms trade.
let alone satires.its not supposed to be funny.
the only way i can figure that someone doesn't see humor in this is that they have never actually been to an air show, visited a defense plant, or studied anything about the weapons / airplane industry, or perhaps they have completely forgotten the Cold War and what it was like.
the idea of selling a bunch of useless weapons off to a third world dictator, while a rich Arabian sells weapons to his enemy, is sick and funny but most of all it's true.anyone who likes family guy or futurama will have a good chance of appreciating this movie.