The Deal: DVD Review

The Deal: DVD Review

The Deal
Rating: M
Released by Roadshow Entertainment
Seven years after it was made, this telemovie about the Tony Blair/ Gordon Brown friendship and power struggle is released.
Touted as the Prequel to the Queen (which is a little odd to say the least), Michael Sheen once again dusts his off smile and polishes his teeth to play UK Prime Minister Tony Blair.
It's set in 1980s Britain, which is in the vice like grip of Thatcher's reign and tells of how David Morrissey's Gordon Brown met with Blair - forced into sharing an office in London, the pair become friends (initially under duress) over policy and a life in opposition.
But the times, they are a changin' with the wind of change blowing through the corridors of power - and the politics of ambition begin to force the pair apart.
Stephen Frears done an admirable job pulling this together - with the use of archive news footage from the time which has Morrissey and Sheen cut into, as well as footage from political rallies, it does well to evoke the times of Tory Britain.
Sheen's reliably good as Blair once again - and David Morrissey's portrayal of the gruff intensely private Gordon Brown is a real revelation.
It's interesting to see how the pair grew apart and how Brown's decision to bide his time cost him his real chance to lead Labour to victory.
And yet, as a movie for the masses, this is sadly lacking. There's much to admire in this telemovie if you're a) an English ex-pat or b) a politics student.
But I'm afraid, outside of those two parameters, many will pass this by in favour of more blockbuster fare.
Extras: None

Rating: 6/10