Big Guns and Small

A small time arms dealer gets mixed up with big time arms dealers with darkly hilarious results in 1983's Deal of the Century. Despite the big stakes, director William Friedkin opts for a delicately satiric tone in many ways resembling Doctor Strangelove.

Chevy Chase plays Eddie Muntz, an American who's made a life for himself in South America by selling guns and explosives to various revolutionary forces. Chase's particular brand of deadpan plays very well in establishing this guy as so seasoned, so confident in his con, that he can casually talk his way through any sticky situation.

He bumps into a suicidal Wallace Shawn at a hotel one night. Once Shawn's dead, Muntz answers his phone and bluffs his way through a conversation with Shawn's company. It's an American defense corporation trying to market a new drone. Muntz seizes the opportunity to upgrade his career and finds negotiating with petty dictators as easy as dealing with small time guerrillas.

Sigourney Weaver and Gregory Hines are also in the film and they're both great. There's a particularly funny scene of rigorously deadpan slapstick in which Weaver shoots Chase in the foot and when Hines intrudes he assumes it's some kind of kinky sex.

Deal of the Century is available on The Criterion Channel this month as part of a collection of William Friedkin movies.

X Sonnet #1834

A humble gun was stranded south of Hell.
Hotels refused a dealer pushing shoes.
A sample case supplied a partial sell.
Remember these for later 'cause they're clues.
A television burned with grey delight.
Obtrusive nets of cable cut the mind.
Its precious thoughts implied a mental light.
However, metal teeth have bit the rind.
A message floats along a desert breeze.
A mighty woman skips the hungry croc.
Defenseless eggs present to snakes a tease.
No serpent, though, is any girl who'd walk.
A bouncy worm deploys the lyric scroll.
For growing mutant legs, the critters stroll.