A Deal is a Deal

Paul Callow is a London tube driver who can't see any light at the end of the tunnel. An aspiring writer who longs for the quiet of the country, he feels trapped in his dull life like a rat in a maze. To make matters worse, he's recently run over two people. When his partners tell him he'll get retirement with pay if he has the misfortune to run over three people in a month, Paul sets about making that misfortune happen. He seeks out a volunteer candidate to have himself run over. A likely contender appears in the shape of a homeless Irishman named Tommy (Colm Meaney) who's about to jump off a bridge. Paul convinces him to throw himself in front of his train instead, promising him a thousand pounds for a weekend splurge first. What to do with only one more weekend to live? Tommy decides to revisit his past to make amends for his wasted life. When Paul goes with him to make sure he keeps up his end of the deal, he finds out much more about life than he'd bargained for. A DEAL IS A DEAL is also a bittersweet comedy, with life hanging in the balance. – B.B.