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Overview
User Rating:
Director:
Writer:
Peter Morgan (screenplay)
Release Date:
8 November 2007 (USA) more
Awards:
2 wins & 3 nominations more
NewsDesk:
(49 articles)
Movie Review: The Damned United (2009)
(From Rope Of Silicon. 9 October 2009, 2:22 AM, PDT)
Film: Review:The Damned United
(From The AV Club. 8 October 2009, 12:05 PM, PDT)
User Comments:
The formula of politics more (3 total)
Cast
(Credited cast)| David Morrissey | ... | Gordon Brown | |
| Michael Sheen | ... | Tony Blair | |
| Frank Kelly | ... | John Smith | |
| Elizabeth Berrington | ... | Cherie Blair | |
| Paul Rhys | ... | Peter Mandelson | |
| Dexter Fletcher | ... | Charlie Whelan | |
| Glenna Morrison | ... | Anji Hunter | |
| Matt Blair | ... | Ed Balls | |
| rest of cast listed alphabetically: | |||
| Stuart Bowman | ... | Journalist #1 | |
| Clare Clifford | ... | Euro Delegate | |
| Philippe De Grossouvre | ... | Waiter | |
| Valerie Edmond | ... | Sheena McDonald | |
| Nick Falk | ... | Junior Tory Minister | |
| Eilidh Fraser | ... | Returning officer | |
| Keeley Gainey | ... | Soap Actress | |
| Ian Hanmore | ... | Scottish MP #2 | |
| Robert Hines | ... | Political Editor | |
| Gordon Kennedy | ... | John Brown | |
| Kananu Kirimi | ... | Press Secretary | |
| Jayne McKenna | ... | SNP Candidate | |
| Stuart McQuarrie | ... | Scottish MP #1 | |
| Peter Morgan | ... | TV Interwiever | |
| Gordon Morris | ... | Party Worker | |
| David Nicholls | ... | Assistant (as David Holdaway) | |
| John Normington | ... | Shadow Minister | |
| Jessica Oyelowo | ... | Make-up Artist | |
| Roshan Rohatgi | ... | Journalist #2 | |
| Joanna Scanlan | ... | Sue Nye | |
Additional Details
Parents Guide:
Runtime:
90 min | USA:76 min (HBO Print)
Country:
Language:
Color:
Sound Mix:
Certification:
Singapore:NC-16 | Sweden:11 (DVD rating)
Company:
Fun Stuff
Trivia:
Much of the plot is reportedly derived from the book "The Rivals" by James Naughtie. more
Goofs:
Anachronisms: Despite being set in the 1980s and early 1990s, no attempt has been made to disguise the scenes shot in Central London, so modern cars and buses (as of 2003) are regularly seen behind the characters. more
Movie Connections:
References "EastEnders" (1985) more
FAQ
This FAQ is empty. Add the first question.more (3 total)
Message Boards
Discuss this movie with other users on IMDb message board for The Deal (2003) (TV)| Recent Posts (updated daily) | User |
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| Interviews - Frears and Morgan | Apiary |
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In some ways, the story of Gordon Brown and Tony Blair is profoundly uninteresting. Two men with a similar political philosophy consider challenging for the leadership of the party, eventually decide not to compete with one another but subsequently (in events not covered by this film) fall out. Of course, there are many "what ifs", but politics is full of these. The absence of a philosophical clash, or a deep personal emnity, makes their deal in some senses trivial - one guy stood aside for the other, so what? If any other job than that of potential Prime Minister had been at stake, would anyone care? Because of that job, their decision clearly had some significance. But politicians make deals all the time with one another - and had we not a media obsessed with political minutiae, that history might well have been forgotten. According to the briefings, it certainly hasn't been forgotten by Brown - but that doesn't necessarily make it important.
Stephen Frears' film tries hard to reconstruct these events, but it fails to really gain life, telling us what we know already without really adding anything new. David Morrissey, as Brown, is less convincing than when given free rein to play a fictional politician as he did recently in 'State of Play'; Michael Sheen, as Blair, is always just a little bit more callow and hollow than the real thing. The story suggests there was little real friendship between the two, which reduces the tale to a series of empty manoeverings. And while it's fun to see representations of various political characters, we get too little sense of their whole lives. There are a few nice touches (Blair's instinctive family values, Brown's genuine grief at John Smith's death) but 'The Deal' still feels like a compilation of yesterday's newspapers. History will certainly remember both men, but their deal will surely rate only a footnote. For good or ill, Blair stood and won - and that's all we really need to know.