I was referred to watch this from a filmmaking friend. He told me the film was shot pretty low budget with no permits and a bunch of Hollywood stuntmen. He loved it but I had no idea what to expect. Man, was I blown away.

They must have pulled some serious favors to shoot in the locations they shot but the film works outside of the production value. This is a very tense well acted ride. It's beautifully shot and I haven't seen Los Angeles look this dirty and noir slimey since Michael Mann type stuff.

The soundtrack is really good too. Composer Tony Fiala does an amazing job creating a tone throughout the movie. And director Jonathan Salemi really shines at telling a compelling and engaging story.

Anthony Molinari who I noticed from "Barry" really steals the show. Amazing what they pulled off in this movie. Although it does have a couple slow moments, it should not be confused with a micro-budget movie because it's so much more than that. It really is an amazing piece of cinema if you consider how much they made it for. And it can stand alone without that knowledge as well.

Directed and written by Jonathan Salemi, this is about what happens to dealers with marijuana becomes legal. Vince (Anthony Molinari) can't get his license and starts to lose money, so much that he can worries that he's about to lose anything. He and his friend Bobby (Mister Fitzgerald) decide to make one last deal, but the criminals they're working with steal all the weed, which leaves them in debt to the Boss (Sala Baker),a man who he borrowed a hundred grand from and also the maniac who demands his money in a week and then kills Bobby.

Based on a true story and shot during the pandemic, The Last Deal is a gritty take on the crime genre. This film literally had a lower budget than most major Hollywood action films spend on a half day of craft services and ends up working. That's due to how good Molinari is at his role, a normal guy forced into a fight that he has no chance of winning and worrying that he has a baby on the way with his girlfriend Tabitha ((Jeffri Lauren). Now she and his friends are also targeted, so he has to do whatever he can to survive.

With the rating system in place here, a high rating is generated by people who were involved in the film being the first to rate it. Naturally, people with skin in the game are going to give their project a high rating, so with fewer than 300 or less, the early ratings won't actually be critical of the film.

I couldn't get past the narrator's Baaahston accent, so I tried watching it with the volume down, just reading the subtitles. Apparently, the person , or voice translation software, couldn't understand the lead's accent either, so the subtitles don't make sense. That's not good for the ratings by people who have only viewed the film and have no reason to give high ratings automatically.

The thrust of the story is that the legalization legislation was set up to favor certain people, and makes it impossible for Vince to get a retail license.

This was rated 7.0 on IMDB, and the description and trailer made it seem better than it is. It only cost $1.99 to rent, but it's hardly worth that much ; no actors, no action, bad cinematography, and the backstory is told in three minutes.

The full story isn't really interesting. Vince goes for a deal with Bobby, Bobby's suppliers and Bobby's finance man, and trusts Bobby to check out the 200 lbs of product, then when the product is stolen along with the supplier's van and Bobby can't be found, Vince still doesn't conclude that Bobby set him up.

The way it all plays out us ridiculously unbelievable and everyone stumbles through the final scenes. I won't give it away because that would take more typing and I'm tired.

I will say that any review awarding more than 5 stars is probably a shill review.