Raw Deal Review

MPAA Rating: R
Released: 1986

Raw Deal was one of Arnold Schwarzenegger's earlier and lesser-known movies about an ex-FBI agent who is experiencing life as a small town sheriff. One day he is visited by an old associate and tasked with a daring mission: infiltrate the Chicago Mafia in order to avenge the death of his friend's son. Schwarzenegger, over-the-top 80's action and the mob… it just doesn't get any better than this, right? Read on to find out…

On paper Raw Deal would seem like a winning combination; after all, I'm a fan of both Schwarzenegger action flicks and mafia films. When putting the two together, how can you go wrong? Well, we're about to find out.

Mark Kaminsky (Arnold Schwarzenegger) was forced to resign from the FBI long ago because he severely beat an apprehended criminal, but the film makes it clear that we're not to sympathize with the manhandled convict too much since he molested, murdered and mutilated a little girl. Yeah, apparently in that order.

Nowadays he's living the life of a small town sheriff, but you need not worry that such a docile lifestyle would make our favorite Austrian muscleman go soft. To capture a small-time crook that has been impersonating a police officer, Kaminsky takes a subtle approach by pouring gasoline across a roadway and then puffing away on a cigar as he waits for the motorcyclist to arrive. When he does, he tosses the cigar into the gasoline, causing the shocked criminal to fall off his bike. This sets the tone of the movie quite early – it's another Arnie action flick.

One day Kaminsky receives a visit from an old friend, Harry Shannon (Darren McGavin), who requests that he do him the favor of infiltrating the Chicago Mafia and take the mob down. If he agrees to do so, Harry will pull some strings at the FBI to get Kaminsky reinstated. This infiltration would be off-the-record, of course, since Harry's motivation is revenge.

Naturally Kaminsky agrees to the request, but before heading to Chicago and assuming the identity of small-time thug Joseph P. Brenner he must first "kill" himself off. While some might do this by driving their car off a cliff or something minor like that, Kaminsky instead parks his car by some oil tanks at the Irvin International Oil Company and blows it up! The car, oil tanks and entire business operation goes out in a blaze of… well, glory would be the wrong choice of words considering the company never did anything to deserve such ruination. Hopefully they have a good insurance policy.

To get in deep with Luigi Patrovita's (Sam Wanamaker) family he must first build up some street credibility so that Paulo Rocca (Paul Shenar), Patrovita's right-hand man and enforcer, takes notice of him. He accomplishes this by disrupting Lamanski's (Steven Hill), the head of a rival family, criminal operations. Entering an illegal gambling den located in the backroom of a restaurant, he quickly provokes a melee and tears up the place in good old Arnold fashion.

I can hear you diehard Schwarzenegger fans now: "It ain't Arnold unless something blows up, boy!" Ah, you know your action stars well. Well, after knocking the stuffing out of Lamanki's goons and wrecking the joint, he walks outside, enters a tow truck, politely and hilariously asks a group of passersby to move to safety ("Excuse me, could you move to the side a little bit? Thank you."), and then proceeds to drive the truck through the restaurant. Happy now?

Eventually Kaminsky does successfully infiltrate Patrovita's organization, much to the dismay of Max Keller (Robert Davi), a mob captain that has a deep distrust of the new recruit. The rest of Raw Deal plays out like your typical Schwarzenegger action flick with outrageous physical exchanges and furious gun battles.

Here's where the problem comes in: Schwarzenegger is sadly miscast as an ex-FBI agent infiltrating a mafia family. His capacity for dramatic acting and/or playing a suave hitman was sadly lacking this early in his career (and arguably, this entire career), so you won't believe for a minute that Kaminsky really could pull the wool over the mob leadership's eyes were this not scripted into the movie.

Luckily director John Irvin was wise enough to understand that, so Raw Deal doesn't take itself too seriously or attempt to weave a legitimate mafia movie. Arnold Schwarzenegger is simply here to kick butt and spit out corny one-liners in the humorous way only he can. Who else could get away with dialogue like…

Detective: Joseph P. Brenner. What's the P stand for?
Kaminsky: Pu**y.

… and actually cause a guilty grin to spread across the viewer's face? You'll catch plenty of statements and lines delivered with a wink and a nudge, and this was to the movie's credit since it would have utterly failed as an epic mob film. Raw Deal was designed for fans of 80's action and Schwarzenegger, and it makes no bones about it.

Coming after the success of The Terminator, Conan the Barbarian and Commando, it's clear that Raw Deal was an attempt to cash in on the popularity of the new action star. While I do not think this movie was one of Schwarzenegger's better films, Raw Deal does offer enough guilty pleasures for fans of this type of movie to make it worth viewing.

Movie rating: 6 stars

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