The Deal

[lilly]

As mentioned in l'autre thread, I watched The Deal the other night, and while it partly filled me with nostalgia for the bygone days of yore--since I was there in the U.K. when some of the events depicted therein occurred--it also distressed me to realise that most Americans couldn't even pick their own Congressman out of a lineup, let alone know who most of the real-life figures in The Deal are. (One of the things I love most about the British is their tendency to regard politics as a no-holds-barred, full-contact spectator sport.)

I've got to say how much seeing Mr. Morrissey with brown contact lenses messed with my poor litole head, though--not unlike with David Tennant in Casanova, in fact--because even though I know that was a point of historical accuracy (or in Tennant's case, to establish continuity with Peter O'Toole), both actors have such phenomenally expressive eyes that to see them the 'wrong' colour is really disturbing for some reason. Of course, a convincing argument could be made for me already being deeply disturbed where Mr. Morrissey is concerned, so what's one more thing, right? *covers face in despair*

And I must confess that the real Gordon Brown--and his hair, specifically--does not in fact cause me to burst into gales of laughter whenever he appears.

[Ravish Me Ripley]

I never watched this, i'm not particularly drawn to the whole Gordon Brown thing (i have to live with him as my Prime Minister ) but i have seen bits and bats and seem to remember David doing lots of pensive looks and pouting...

[lilly]

Hee! That was my reaction too; I was all, "Aw, look--Pouty McPouterson Is Pouty!"

I was quite impressed with the vocal work, though, cos he really did sound like him, IMHO. And of course the weight gain that Mr. Brown evidently found so objectionable was of course utterly adorable...just more of him to love, after all.

(Hey, a gal needs something to hold onto, dontcha know...)

[Ravish Me Ripley]

Ooh yeah, i'm all for the love handles. It makes me feel better about mine!!

[lucinda]

David Morrissey is too handsome to play Gordon Brown.
Gordon Brown never looked as good as David, even after
the changing of David's appearance to portray Brown.

[lilly]

Mar 2, 2009 19:16:26 GMT lucinda said:

David Morrissey is too handsome to play Gordon Brown.
Gordon Brown never looked as good as David, even after
the changing of David's appearance to portray Brown.

Despite my usual tendency to wanna play devil's advocate (*sigh* There's yet another project of his I'll probably never get to see...), I find myself mysteriously unable to do so in this context.

[victoriao]

I've got to say how much seeing Mr. Morrissey with brown contact lenses messed with my poor litole head, though--not unlike with David Tennant in Casanova, in fact

Sounds a bit like seeing Jason Isaacs with brown eyes in 'The Curse of Steptoe' - authentic maybe, but very disconcerting...

As for David Tennant, I can't even begin to imagine him with blue eyes. Though I suppose if they had to go for consistency with Peter O'Toole then there was no alternative. Turning Mr O'Toole's legendary blue eyes brown would be something akin to blasphemy

[victoriao]

David Morrissey is too handsome to play Gordon Brown.
Gordon Brown never looked as good as David, even after
the changing of David's appearance to portray Brown.

Weeell, I'm not too sure about that... I don't know if I should admit to this but back in the day, when I was a student and Labour were still in opposition (around the time that deal was made in fact), I had quite the crush on Mr Brown. It was the deep voice, the brooding, and the very occasional yet surprisingly beaming smile that did it for me. (If you think this is an admission, a friend told me she used to fancy John Prescott.) Sadly, after 1997 New Labour began to lose its lustre for me and eventually by association so did Mr Brown (so much for power being an aphrodisiac ), though there may perhaps be a soft spot still buried somewhere. I'll be interested to see if watching The Deal, with the added benefits of Mr Morrissey, reawakens my dormant studenty passions! I haven't seen it yet but I know it's available on 4OD so it's on my list...

[kitty11]

Sept 4, 2009 19:45:54 GMT @victoriao said:

As for David Tennant, I can't even begin to imagine him with blue eyes. Though I suppose if they had to go for consistency with Peter O'Toole then there was no alternative. Turning Mr O'Toole's legendary blue eyes brown would be something akin to blasphemy

Yeah, it would have been highly sacreligious, LOL!

Personally (at least in relation to DM and DT), I'm not enamoured with the cosmetic eye colour change either...it kinda flips me out a little too

kitty

[felix]

www.telegraph.co.uk/news/newstopics/politics/gordon-brown/6162994/David-Morrissey-up-for-one-more-stab-at-Gordon-Brown.html

Although Michael Sheen has said he will never play Tony Blair again, David Morrissey is up for one last stab at Gordon Brown.
The amiable actor, who played Brown in The Deal, tells that the part has taken on some of the lustre of the great roles in Shakespeare.
"It's got everything," he says. "Being born to be king, being usurped, getting crowned eventually but it all going tragically wrong in the final act."

This would be great.

[kitty11]

Thanks for that link felix

Sept 11, 2009 10:23:17 GMT felix said:

This would be great.

Oh, agreed! Having watched reports of Mr. Brown's agonisingly slow death by a thousand political cuts on the news over the past year or so, there looks to be a heap of ripe material for a Brown-centric sequel...and for DM to chew on

kitty

[lilly]

Quite rare for a filmic version of events to be confirmed by one of the participants involved, huh?

[victoriao]

Being in a political kinda mood, what with the UK election coming up and all, I finally got round to watching The Deal this afternoon. It's no longer available at 4OD, but helpfully - especially for non-UK viewers - you can find it on YouTube here.

I always have some reservations about films based on actual events because of the blurring of fact and fiction, but setting that aside this is a superb piece of drama. It takes on a certain poignancy in the light of current events, where Brown is facing what may be the last days of his premiership. The Deal presents him a man of great seriousness and integrity and suggests he was thoroughly shafted by the slippery, and more ruthless, Blair. It raises all sorts of questions about what might have happened if Brown, and not Blair, had become leader in the wake of John Smith's death, and suggests huge wasted potential. My personal feeling is that history will judge him as a great chancellor but a failed PM, and most of that failure will not be his fault.

The film has some superb performances. Michael Sheen is brilliant as Blair: the nervous grin, the tics, the voice, all spot-on (as my Mum always says he's really much too short for Blair, but there's not much he can do about that); a great turn from Paul Rhys as Peter Mandelson too. And as for Mr M, what can I say? I absolutely loved him in this. All bias aside, he gives a superlative performance. It's more than an impersonation (though even just on that level it's pretty good - the tone of voice in delivering the speeches, the little thing with the lower lip that Brown does - you know the one I mean); he really inhabits the role and creates a sympathetic portrait of a man who's driven, impassioned, not without humour (of a very dry kind), and ultimately betrayed. If this film is one of the means by which Brown is remembered by history, he has cause to be grateful - both to Stephen Frears and to Mr M!

[lilly]

Silly me, thinking that the previous statement I made about, "There's probably Brown/Blair slashfic out there, but I really don't wanna know about it" was in this thread (oh yeah, like I'm usually so good at confining comments to their respective threads?!), but in any case--and via celia (can't imagine why you neglected to cite this in your review, hon!)--rarely have I ever been proven quite so hilariously wrong.

(Warning: not for the faint of heart or Ho!Yay-intolerant, and I personally find it's a lot more fun if you envision the movie version of both fellas, 'natch.)

[lilly]

May 2, 2010 21:25:46 GMT @victoriao said:

a great turn from Paul Rhys as Peter Mandelson too.

I forgot to say in my previous post that it never fails, every time I see Lord Mandelson on tv now, I invariably think, "Hey, wait a minute! He doesn't look anything like Paul Rhys!" I had a similar problem the first time I saw a portrait of Sir Philip (~Bleedin') Sidney and thought, "But that's absolutely nothing like Michael Palin!" (As possibly noted previously, grow up watching Python, and you too may have this problem.)

And as for Mr M, what can I say? I absolutely loved him in this. All bias aside, he gives a superlative performance. It's more than an impersonation (though even just on that level it's pretty good - the tone of voice in delivering the speeches, the little thing with the lower lip that Brown does - you know the one I mean)

Actually, I don't, but now I'll know to look for it...especially after having watched so much election coverage this past week (since

a: I plan to live in the UK again at some point, so I retain a proprietary interest;

b: I have so many lil' Britfriends that were caught up in the election [ma chère celia most notable among them];

c: I am taking refuge in politics that do not incite one of my dad's Obama-is-the-Antichrist rants)

I have to say that I now can actually see what celia found just so darned fanciable about Mr. Brown (yes, the real one, not the movie version). Just watching him on the campaign trail, especially at the point when he was talking about being the father of young children, and seeing him smile genuinely...oh my. Yeah, we've got some definite charisma happening there...and no, this is definitely not a power-as-aphrodisiac thing for me, either. (More like what I've referenced before, about being Of A Certain Age and how everything apparently gets processed through my hormones these days. Take heed, younger friends [which is just about all of you here]--this derangement may well happen to you too!)

Though incidentally, have I mentioned that consistency IS an aphrodisiac? (Alright, admittedly when it comes to that guy, we're into a whole, "What isn't?!" category at this point, but still...just sayin.)

he really inhabits the role and creates a sympathetic portrait of a man who's driven, impassioned, not without humour (of a very dry kind), and ultimately betrayed. If this film is one of the means by which Brown is remembered by history, he has cause to be grateful - both to Stephen Frears and to Mr M!

You should really be working PR for those guys, y'know.

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