One Last Deal was the second of three films I saw that day, and the first thing I noticed – especially given a particular new film I still had to watch after this – was that one of the movie companies involved is Hail Mary films! It’s a sign!
Jimmy Banks (Danny Dyer – Marching Powder) is a long-in-the-tooth agent of footballers, and is trying to get one last deal out of his career so he can live in luxury.
Like Jerry Maguire, he only has one client on the books, given all the people he’s pissed off in the past, but it’s Matt Gravish (Elliott Rogers), one of the best in the game and currently on £200,000/week, but Jimmy thinks he’s worth far more, and he’s not happy about one of the deal’s stipulations being “No alcohol for a year“! Still, after a quick call, Matt would rather take that, than risk upsetting the applecart and have the deal fly out the window.
The entire film sees only Mr Dyer onscreen, save for any occasional moments when he switches on the tellybox to check certain news stories, while everyone else is on the phone, but for the star footballer, the deal will all go out the window if he’s found guilty of a heinous alleged crime, and the verdict is due today.
Occasionally, he speaks to his daughter, Stephanie, who he hasn’t seen in ages and forgot it’s her birthday – albeit he’s been snowed under with work; and in case the Matt situation goes South, while trying to arrange another deal for footballer Jerome Sweet (Chip) to sign with him and be a star in Madrid, for a team run by Roberto Sanchez (Carlos Bardem – Echo 3), he gets an unknown call from a blackmailer in relation to Matt’s alleged actions, wanting a stack of cash, otherwise they’ll make everything very public indeed.
It has a superb, energetic score which helps add to the tension, along with tight direction and a script which throws some amazing curveballs, all serving to bring out the best in Dyer – who’s brilliantly maniacal as a man on the edge, especially when his frustration shows and he’s trying not to take it out on the people who’ve been good to him, like his daughter, such as when he snaps at her for being an artist because he doesn’t think it’s a proper job.
But then even when he’s on his own, he shows how stressed he can get, even heading to the coffee machin and shouting, “Why the fuck did I buy decaf?” 😀
With just one person onscreen throughout, and the voices of the others only coming over the phone, it has the feel of Tom Hardy’s Locke, and Ryan Reynolds’ Buried.
Every now and again you get a film, where some may see the lead name and think, “Oh, another film with them again…”, yet it’s one that proves when given the chance, they really can act, AND do a bloody good job of it.
For Danny Dyer, One Last Deal is that film. So, don’t ever write him off as a “typical Cockney geezer” until you’ve seen this film from start to finish. And I don’t even watch football!
It’s just a shame it’s had ZERO promotion beforehand, especially since it’s made by Sky – which I didn’t even realise until the opening credits rolled, yet they haven’t given it a mention on there, despite STILL running the same old trailer for that awful-looking Dr Strangelove production on Sky Arts with Steve Coogan, weeks after it was shown! “You can’t fight in here, this is the War Room” is as hackneyed an unfunny line as Dad’s Army’s “Don’t tell him, Pike!”
Oh, and when I tried to book this about a week ago, the Odeon app did its usual screwy thing of not letting you book a film on the app, because it thinks you already have a booking, and thus it needs to be done in person*, as much as I’d recommend this film to anyone, it was STILL empty when I booked yesterday! So, it’s great to have a private screening, but I do wish others had seen it. Not loud people, though.
NOTE: There are no mid- nor post-credits scenes.
One Last Deal is in cinemas now, and is available to pre-order on Blu-ray and DVD.
Detailed specs:
Cert: 
Running time: 99 minutes
Release date: February 20th 2026
Studio: Vertigo Releasing / Sky
Aspect Ratio: 2.39:1
Cinema: Odeon Trafford Centre
Rating: 10/10
Director: Brendan Muldowney
Producers: Richard Bolger, Paul Kennedy, Patrick O’Neill
Screenplay: Peter Howlett
Music: Stephen McKeon
Cast:
Jimmy Banks: Danny Dyer
Matt Gravish: Elliott Rogers
Roberto Sanchez: Carlos Bardem
DCI Garritty: Katy Cavanagh-Jupe
Jerome Sweet: Chip
Kristy Brody: Dagmar Döring
Young Stephanie: Penelope Gavin
Ned Glaver: Demetri Goritsas
Radio DJ: Jo Whiley
Reviewer of movies, videogames and music since 1994. Aortic valve operation survivor from the same year. Running DVDfever.co.uk since 2000. Nobel Peace Prize winner 2021.