The film The Deal elaborates on the relationship of Tony Blair and Gordon Brown during the first years of their political careers. Both men are extremely ambitious, and strive for the party leadership. However their efforts are strikingly different, because of their opposite characters. Blair is eager, always willing to try his luck, and if necessary to subject and serve under a stronger leader. On the psychological level Blair is the extrovert politician, with the ability to show empathy, thus fostering excellent external contacts. He has a disliking for party principles, that might isolate him from society. Brown openly vents his ambitions, and refuses to do tasks, that are below his standards. He is the introvert person, that values the party principles and defends them with ardor and sometimes coarseness (the Labour Party is an association of workmen). Evidently the film The Deal is above all things a character study, and the political background is of only secondary relevance. The story could equally well have portrayed two men, competing for the position of head of the sales department. The political setting is highlighted mainly by the inclusion of footage from live television recordings. For instance we witness a congress of the Labour Party in the eighties, where the crowd sings their hymn The Red Flag. In the mutual relationship Brown makes clear to Blair, that he (Brown) is the primary candidate for the position of party leader. Blair accepts with a mocking overtone. In the mean time party leader Neil Kinnock is defeated by Thatcher, and is replaced by John Smith. When Smith suffers a deadly heart attack, the competition between Brown and Blair reaches its climax. Blair publicly announces his availability as successor, and Brown reacts furiously. He raves: "We had an understanding!" However, it seems that Blair has the better testimonials. His extrovert attitude makes him attractive to the so-called floating voters, who are as yet irresolute. This brings him the support of many party officials, perhaps the majority. Brown has the backing of the traditional Labour strongholds, and a stalemate is forthcoming. Borwn had hoped that the party would prefer him as a matter of course, and apparently fears the confrontation with Blair. Some party officials reproach Brown, that he had never challenged the leadership of Smith. His qualities are called in question. Eventually it is Blair, who reaches out to Brown, and offers him a strong position in a cabinet under his leadership. In addition a vague agreement is made, that Brown will be Blairs successor - rather strange, since both men are of the same age. It reflects the consideration of a senior party official: "What Brown needs, is hope". Surprisingly, Brown accepts, although the job is below his own standard. The film ends here. In 1997 the Labour Party under Blair won the elections, and remained in power until 2009. The Labour Party was reformed, and shifted to the right wing of the social-democracy. Later Blair succumbed to the wishes of Bush with regard to the invasion of Iraq, which made his position within the party untenable. However, even then Brown was unable to topple him. I think that The Deal gives an excellent portrayal of the personal drama, that is attached especially to political careers. In politics a failed candidate can not apply with a competitor, like in business: it is now or never. If you appreciate this type of films, you may consider seeing my reviews of Im Schatten der Macht (Willy Brandt), Jean Jaures, Therese et Leon (Leon Blum), Changer la vie! (Francois Mitterrand), Nynke (Piter Jelles Troelstra) or Den Uyl en de affaire Lockheed (Joop den Uyl). Warning: English subtitles are the odd exception, sorry.

By providing us not only with the political faces of these two great men but with their flawed human underbellies, the director drags us into the heart of the clash - the stylistic differences between Bed and Breakfast (Blair and Brown). What a performance.. Watch the news afterward and you won't know which program was the real one. 10/10

It is approaching an election in the UK when the leader of the Labour party, John Smith, suffers another in a line of heart attacks and dies. With the leadership campaign about to start the clear choice appears to be Gordon Brown, a stanch Scotsman. However Tony Blair is also beginning to appear more likely as he will appeal to Southern voters who would be turned off by Brown. Blair rings Brown to arrange a meeting to discuss which will go for the job. The film flashbacks to the start of their relationship, sharing an office in Westminster on their first seats.I have recently seen a BBC political drama (The Project) which was focused around the rise (and perversion) of Labour - it lasted 4 hours and was unlikely to win over anyone who wasn't already suitably informed about the topic. The Deal, on the other hand, is 90 minutes long and is a punchy little summary of the supposed deal brokered between Blair and Brown to prevent them having to battle for the party leadership in the wake of John Smith's death. This is worthwhile as it is likely to attract those not actually into politics but just looking for a reasonable drama to pass the time.As such it moves along quite well. It covers lot of ground quite quickly and will give those lacking the knowledge (like me) a good understanding of the political landscape of the time. It also has a certain amount of drama - some of which is real and some of which is provided by characters and sinister direction. The one flaw I did feel it had was that it was a drama and not a documentary, to that end dialogue has been created and scenes are the combination of sources and records. This is still good but it has the effect that we can't take everything at face value - I would have preferred if more sources were clearly defined and the facts more clearly established. The fact that the whole film is a drama means that I couldn't be sure how much of the film (or how little) was actually artistic license.The cast are good. The better role is Morrissey as Brown. He manages to get his mannerisms right without letting it turn into a impression, he plays him as a dour character (which Brown pleaded innocence of the next day on the BBC, despite claiming not to have seen the film) which is the image many have of him, but he does bring him to life well. Sheen's Blair is also good but is more of a mimic than a real character - it hard to describe but it felt like he had spent more time focusing on the mannerisms than the character , although, that said, he did bring another layer out at some points (witness his face change as Brown leaves the restaurant at the end). Rhys' Mandelson is too much of an effort to be sinister and didn't work for me - the Mandelson that we have seen is more lively and overt than this, he does have his sinister side but the fact that it is in this colourful shell makes it more interesting, that wasn't brought out. The support cast is good but this is a two-hander and the two characters carry it well - even if the restaurant scene is not exactly the equal of Heat!Overall this works well as a political drama which will reach those not normally reached by this type of material. However the fact that the facts were mixed with dramatised and fictional scenes was a problem for me and I wasn't totally sure what bits were real and what bits were interpreted. Still an enjoyable film nonetheless.

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.