Popular reviews

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  Review by Michael Sicinski ★★★½

  [7]

  There is nothing particularly notable about Dealt as a documentary. In fact it is a standard-issue character study, and its arc is relatively predictable. We learn about Richard Turner, the "card mechanic" who has been obsessively mastering the art of playing-card manipulation from a very early age. We see him perform unimaginably difficult maneuvers with the 52. And then we learn that he went blind as a child and has been rebelling against society's expectations of the "disabled" ever since.

  I just happen to find Dealt entertaining, despite its slavish adherence to convention. Turner is a compelling figure, partly because he represents an ideal of masculinity that is tied to a particular moment in history, something unique to my…

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  Review by Andy Summers 🤠 ★★★½ 3

  The amount of times I've started a review of a documentary with "this was a fascinating doc", is probably exactly what the filmmaker was going for. Dealt, a documentary on card-mechanic and magician Richard Turner is one of those docs that truly leaves you mesmerised by his abilities. He's an inspiring man, not just because of his talent as a magician, but as a man who wouldn't let his disability stop him living his life. I thought that I'd try and honour Turner by not mentioning that he was blind, he doesn't like to be thought of as disabled, but I don't think that statement detracts from just how inspirational this guy is. The card stuff is mind-boggling, but the…

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  Review by Seesty ★★★½

  Richard Turner has managed to become one of the world’s best close-up magicians, earned a black belt in karate, and at sixty-five, has the physique of someone thirty years younger, all without the gift of sight, yet I can’t get up early for a jog because I’m “not a morning person.”

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  Review by {Todd} ★★★

  "If you say he's blind.... hm.... I'll take that into consideration" - Spectator,

  How the fuck does he do that?

  An interesting film that attempts, somewhat successfully, to be about card tricks but ends up being more about a man's quest to not let his blindness impact the way he experiences the world. The documentary effectively deals with issues related to family and personal ambition. It's short and I was never bored. I'm not sure there is enough here to draw someone in that is completely uninterested in the subject matter but for people that are, it's a nice way to spend 86 minutes.

  Pretty decent, if you have any interest in the topic.

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  Review by Sarah Genao (just2good) ★★★½

  Appears to be a profile documentary on one of the best living “card technicians,” turns out to be an examination of one man’s view of himself, particularly in regards to considering himself disabled. Interesting observations of coping with outward masculinity too. Nice pacing, intriguing, decently shot, and I’m glad it isn’t mostly a talking-head piece.

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  Review by txdrmst ★★

  Netflix

  Maybe I've become heartless, but I feel like this documentary failed at making me care for the person I'm learning about.

  Richard Turner comes off as someone who is massively talented, but also as kind of a selfish asshole. He seemed to spend the majority of his life wearing other people out instead of learning how to cope with his vision loss in a healthy way.

  In the end I felt kind of just felt bad for his wife, who he used to whistle for when he needed something. She told him to write an actual acceptance speech and he refused, instead opting to tell a room full of magicians that they had sex earlier that day in one…

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  Review by Morgan ★★★½

  gateway arch moment

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  Review by Jordan Beaumont Anderson ★★★½

  Zatoichi Ricky Jay made me sad.

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  Review by SnowboardJunkie ★★★½

  Inspiring story of a man who didn’t want to be seen as blind or disabled. Just the accomplishment of his hard work and persistence. He’s a card mechanic. Someone who can cheat at cards. Most see him as a card magician. Which is probably what I see for lack of a better understanding. If for nothing else than the fact his heart would never cheat himself or you. It’s a warming story of determination matched by hard work and passion. Some might even say he’s obsessed.

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  Review by Paul Duane ★★★½

  I kept thinking to myself while watching this, “am I being pranked? How can this story be real?” but despite the vast number of WTF moments in this extraordinary story, it does seem to check out. Richard is one of the most exceptional people you’ll ever see on camera, but he definitely isn’t just your inspirational story of a battle against disability. He’s a driven, angry, crazy (the scene with the fish’s eye!), sometimes disturbing (that is the weirdest awards speech I’ve ever seen), and eventually very impressive person who has to learn to let the people around him help him, and eventually that’s the most impressive thing of all, that he does. A highly manipulative documentary, but in a way I found incredibly watchable and entertaining. A true rollercoaster.

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  Review by Isaac Simon ★★★★

  Really good doc about a blind man who could cheat me in poker and beat me up afterwards

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  Review by Dan Gorman ★★★½

  Put this on without no expectations other than seeing some cool card tricks and dang it's a lot more than that eh