Danny Dyer stars as Jimmy Banks, an old-school football agent who desperately needs to secure his troubled star footballer one last big payday in this frantic and quite superb movie.
When I saw the trailer for this film, I was worried that centring the entire story around one set would feel very one-dimensional without an outstanding actor to carry it. Much like other one-location movies such as Tom Hardy in Lockeand Ryan Reynolds in Buried, Danny Dyer not only carries this film — he absolutely smashes it into the back of the net.
Danny’s personality was born for this role. It’s loud, in your face, and injected with London swagger. As he steps into the shoes of Jimmy Banks, you’re taken on the ride with him, with the only other characters appearing via phone calls as we watch Jimmy negotiate player deals and desperately try to save his own skin amidst a looming trial involving his only footballer client.
All is going smoothly until he receives voice recordings implicating his star client, and suddenly everything takes on a scary resemblance to a real-life footballer who’s been very prominent in the news recently. It feels uncomfortably close to home in that regard and has no doubt served as some form of inspiration (for want of a better word) woven into the script.
What One Last Deal also does is give you a brief but revealing look into the cut-throat world of football politics, where agents will go behind each other’s backs to secure a client deal, and where there are no limits when it comes to brokering an agreement and landing a big payday.
Danny Dyer channels his inner Ari Gold from Entourage in this movie, and his character feels completely ingrained and permanently switched on, while at the same time the pressure of the day unfolds and his own personal demons come crashing front and centre.
The ebb and flow of One Last Deal is what really grips you and never lets go. You want Jimmy to do well — you’re rooting for him through this redemption arc — but then, in a split second, he’s self-sabotaging both himself and his future.
There’s a twist ending which is fairly predictable from early on regarding who’s behind the blackmail, but the film is clearly aware of this and cleverly bait-and-switches the audience with a smart and satisfying finale.
My attention span is as weak as they come, but at a 90-minute runtime I genuinely didn’t want this one to end. While I feel the film could maybe have added another character or location or two as a personal preference, in the grand scheme of things it really didn’t need it.
Danny Dyer is frantic and f**king fantastic in this movie, and I’d highly recommend you checking it out. It’s arguably some of his best work, and I thoroughly enjoyed every bloody second of it.
Much like Haaland carries Man City, Ronaldo carries Al Nassr and Lorent Tolaj carries Plymouth Argyle (ex Port Vale player that I’m still salty about) Danny Dyer carries this entire movie with ease and scores an absolutely worldie.
One Last Deal, starring Danny Dyer, is out in cinemas March 13.
Our Rating
Summary
Much like Haaland carries Man City, Ronaldo carries Al Nassr and Lorent Tolaj carries Plymouth Argyle (ex Port Vale player that I’m still salty about) Danny Dyer carries this entire movie with ease and scores an absolutely worldie.
