Deal of the Century is a 1983 American comedy directed by William Friedkin that has a couple of arms dealers (Chevy Chase and Gregory Hines) going to South America to sell weapons to a South American dictator.
The film also stars Sigourney Weaver, Vince Edwards, Wallace Shawn, Richard Libertini, Richard Herd, and Graham Jarvis.
It was released on November 4, 1983.
Tropes for the film:
- Artistic License – Law: Alongside Artistic License – Military. Only the U.S. Military under the orders of the President are legally allowed to deal with Ray after he steals an armed fighter plane at the expo. No one else had any business launching anything. In fact, none of the military manufacturers would have fully armed and flight-ready aircraft and weapons at an arms show to prevent exactly what happens.
- Arms Dealer: The titular "deal" is them selling a lemon of an Attack Drone in order to swindle a few million dollars in the black market.
- Arms Fair: The plot revolves around several. The first one is where the Peacemaker is introduced and fails spectacularly. The second one reveals the upgrades the Peacemaker went through as it gets into a dangerous dogfight with Ray.
- Berserk Button/Beware of the Nice Ones: Ray tries to be pacifistic towards an entitled man and his side-piece in a parking lot, who crashed into his car as he pulled out. Ray tries to be non-confrontational and reasonable, but unfortunately, the driver of the other car is spoiling for a fight. After the other guy kicks Ray's car a few times, Ray tries to reason with him, but the other driver pulls out a switchblade
, and starts making threats as he pops a tire on Ray's car, then piles on the hatred with a tire iron, smashing the windows. Between the hatred of the man smashing his car's windshield and the spiteful bitchiness of his girlfriend hurling insults, Ray walks up to his battered car, and pulls out the flamethrower that was resting on his Bible, and both see it and run away scared.- Just seeing him get pissed as he tries to maintain a level of Tranquil Fury despite it all is all too understandable.
- Bittersweet Ending: Stryker ends up launching all the Peacekeeper's munitions, which miss and ends up destroying all the planes and munitions sitting on the ground at the expo, but no one is hurt or killed thanks to everyone being evacuated. He later takes an extended leave of absence from Luckup. Ray survives, destroys the UAV, and flies off to parts unknown. The Peacekeeper deal with San Miguel falls apart, averting a larger scale conflict and bloodshed. While Ed and Ray are now out of the arms business and a lot of money, they are both happier working in their new professions. Ray is working as a missionary in Africa while Ed is now working alongside his brother as a used car salesman. Catherine is still in his life, still smitten with each other, and he's planning on proposing to her.
- Chekhov's Gunman: Guns dealer Eddie Muntz is repeatedly shot through the foot during the early half of the film, necessitating a need for a walking cane wherever he goes. When Eddie has to stop Stryker from using the fighter drone to kill his best friend Ray, he's able to reach the drone's Abort switch with his cane, giving Ray the chance to shoot down the drone.
- Cool Plane: Besides the fictional Luckup Peacemaker UAV and the F-19x that Ray steals, we also have real-life fighter aircraft such as the A-10, Harrier, and a Mirage.
- Corrupt Corporate Executive: Stryker. He's obsessed with outpacing the rival arms manufacturers, even as his company is unable to install working air conditioners in their workplaces, develop an effective advertising campaign, nor retain effective salesmen.
- Did Not Think This Through:
- Despite extensive marketing research, the marketing team's work to create an advertising campaign for the Peacemaker misses its mark. The team's television and posters make the UAV seem more like a toy meant to be sold to the general public alongside cat food and over-the-counter pain medication than the lethal weapon of war that it is. Stryker rightfully calls it "soft", a public service message, and reminds them that their clientele are dictators, private contractors, mercenaries, and governments who do not rent cars or eat cat food.
- Besides the failed surplus air-conditioning unit in their trailer, of all the things to not consider when developing a UAV, not water-proofing the prototype Peacemaker's onboard systems against something as simple as a hose-down is quite a doozy. Especially after racking up over $250-million in cost-overruns.
Luckup Technican: Washing it was sheer stupidity.
Luckup Technician #2: It should do great tomorrow.
Stryker: Tomorrow?!
Luckup Technician #2: After it dries.
Stryker: There is no tomorrow, you asshole! Have you ever heard of RAIN?! - Disastrous Demonstration: When an early-generation UAV dubbed the Peacemaker is launched at a military aircraft demonstration, it malfunctions. Namely, flying to Longbeach, nearly shooting down a civilian traffic helicopter, and destroying a fuel tower in full view of their customers. After the disaster, the research and development team fix the Peacemaker's flaws for a later expo...General: This is a great day for the Air Force, Senator!
Senator: (about ready to run for his life) Why is that, General?
General: Because the navy ordered twenty of those disasters. - Expy: The Luckup defense corporation, a parodic name echoing real-life manufacturers like Lockheed and Northrup (companies that do get name-dropped as competitors).
- It also rhymes with "Fuck-up," given the problems the company has with marketing itself and providing quality arms equipment.
- Fire-Breathing Weapon: Ray is hassled by a Jerkass, as he takes a flamethrower out of his trunk and adds the flames painted on the side of the man's muscle car.
- Heel–Faith Turn: Ray develops guilt over his work as an arms dealer, which drives him to give up his job and join a Baptist church (complete with an actual baptism in a swimming pool). When we next see him, Ray has snuck onto another military aircraft show and hijacks a working fighter plane, making demands for all the attending generals and Third World dictators to hold hands and pray for peace.
- Hot Paint Job: A car's "flame job" is a point of pride for the owner. In an argument with Ray Kasternak (Hines) the latter takes a flamethrower out of the trunk of his car and gives the former's car a literal flame job, torching it.Ray: I'm gonna give ya a lil' touchup! A lil' touchup! Just a lil' touchup for ya!
- The Man Behind the Man: General Cordosa, the Dictator of San Miguel, is a misogynistic fool who can't even spell. However, Colonel Salgado is the one with the brains who is actually running things. He is the one who actually negotiates with Ray and Ed to purchase the Luckup UAV technology—he and Ray talk about manufacturing-specific issues—so his country can produce and export it as a source of income.
- Mugging the Monster:
- In one early scene Eddie is mugged by a pair of robbers, and he hands them his wallet… then pulls out a machine gun from his car's boot while they are standing there pulling out the cash and orders them at gunpoint to hand it back, their own money and their guns, and run like hell.
- Ray is accosted by an angry couple. He then demonstrates why messing with an arms dealer who just happens to have a flame thrower in the trunk of his car at the time is a bad idea.
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Technology Marches On: In the early 1980s, a pilot-less drone fighter (UAV) would be considered science fiction. By the 2010s as drone technology improved, drone warfare took over much of the fighting during the War on Terror. - Villainous Breakdown:
- Luckup executive Stryker has one early in the film during the Disastrous Demonstration when he finds out that something as mundane as water being the cause. In front of all their domestic custumers.
- He later uses Ray's attempt to hijack an arms show to demonstrate the Peacemaker drone, which has gone through an upgrade and fights Ray to a stalemate. When Eddie tries to save his friend Ray by talking Stryker out of giving the kill order, Stryker has a meltdown, revealing to Eddie just how dangerous the arms race has gotten.
