''Dealt'' is a 2017 American documentary film directed by

Luke Korem Luke Korem (born 1 November 1982) is an American filmmaker, whose credits include directing and producing the South by Southwest, SXSW award-winning documentary ''Dealt'' and the Showtime (TV network), Showtime documentary series ''Action''. Care ...

. The film is about the life and career of Richard Turner - who is renowned as one of the world's greatest card magicians, yet he is completely blind. In the documentary, Richard traces his journey from his troubled childhood, when he began losing his vision, to present day as he relentlessly pursues perfection while struggling with the reality that his biggest weakness might also be his greatest strength. The film features extensive vérité footage of both Richard and his family as well as archive footage of Turner's many television appearances. The film features interviews with notable magicians including Turner,

Johnny Thompson John Max Thompson (July 27, 1934 – March 9, 2019) was an American comedian and Las Vegas illusionist who performed under the stage name The Great Tomsoni with his wife, Pamela Hayes. They had a comedic slapstick act with the well-dressed Tho ...

, Max Maven, Armando Lucero, and Jason England. ''Dealt'' debuted at the 2017

South By Southwest South by Southwest, abbreviated as SXSW and colloquially referred to as South By, is an annual conglomeration of parallel film, interactive media, and music festivals and conferences organized jointly that take place in mid-March in Austin, ...

Film Festival in competition where it won the Audience Award for Best Documentary Feature. ''Dealt'' went on to win four more audience awards and screened at festivals around the world including China and New Zealand. The film is distributed by IFC Films through Sundance Selects. In the US, the film can be viewed on

Hulu Hulu () is an American subscription streaming service majority-owned by The Walt Disney Company, with Comcast's NBCUniversal holding a minority stake. It was launched on October 29, 2007 and it offers a library of films and television seri ...

Amazon Amazon most often refers to: * Amazons, a tribe of female warriors in Greek mythology * Amazon rainforest, a rainforest covering most of the Amazon basin * Amazon River, in South America * Amazon (company), an American multinational technolog ...

and iTunes. Internationally, it is available on

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."SXSW Winner ‘Dealt’ Ends Up In Sundance Selects’ Hand"
'' Deadline'', March 29, 2017.

Critical response

''Dealt'' received overwhelming positive reviews including a Critics Pick by the Los Angeles Times.

Rotten Tomatoes Rotten Tomatoes is an American review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee, and Stephen Wan ...

reports a high score of 95%. LA Weekly and The Village Voice said the film is an "Illuminating, beautifully composed portrait". The New York Times said the subject is "Captivating. A dynamic personality", and Variety calls the film a "fascinating portrait of a blind card mechanic". Teller, of the famed magic duo Penn & Teller, said "''Dealt'' knocked me dead. Turner and the tough love of his family won my heart. A great documentary." After its theatrical release, ''Dealt'' rose to #1 on the iTunes doc charts and was selected as their Editors' Choice.

References

External links

* * 2017 films 2017 documentary films American documentary films American independent films Documentary films about blind people Documentary films about entertainers Films about magic and magicians 2010s English-language films 2010s American films {{bio-documentary-film-stub