The Game
Director:David Fincher
Screenplay:John Brancato and Michael Ferris
Starring:Michael Douglas, Sean Penn, James Rebhorn, Deborah Kara
Unger and Armin Mueller-Stahl
John's review
In this dark, stylish thriller, a coldly meticulous San
Francisco businessman receives a surprise birthday present from his estranged, chronically
rehabbing younger brother--a "game" in which a company called Consumer
Recreation Services arranges to jump-start your life.
Nicholas Van Orton (Douglas) is a San Francisco investment banker worth
millions, whose human relationships are less than liquid. He’s divorced. He’s
only occasionally in touch with his younger brother, Conrad (Penn), who has his share of
behavioral problems. And thanks to repetitive flashbacks, we learn that, as a child,
Nicholas witnessed his 48-year-old father leap to his death. Nicholas lives alone with his
father’s housekeeper in a castle of a home.
For his 48th birthday, his brother gives him a voucher for something
called The Game. As Nicholas tries to find out more about how you play this Game, run by a
company called Consumer Recreation Services, the world that was his own begins to play
him. Soon, Nicholas finds himself in dangerous scenarios: trapped in a taxi sinking into
the Bay's watery depths; targeted by hitmen tommygunning his car; slipped a mickey by a
blonde (Unger) who might or might not be in on The Game; buried penniless in a Mexican
grave. The propulsive plot takes moviegoers right along on Nicholas' ride, and the tension
never slackens.
As with his Seven and Alien3, in The Game its in his
climax where director David Fincher fails. Both films build toward dynamic, even
world-altering conclusions, but what's provided is just fizzle. The film, written by
Brancato and Ferris, is an elaborately constructed crock. It’s formulaic, yet edgy.
It’s predictable, yet full of surprises. How far you get through this tall tale of a
thriller before you give up and howl is a matter of personal taste. But there’s much
pleasure in Fincher’s intricate color schemes (or lack thereof), his rich sense of
decor, his ability to sustain suspense over long periods of time and his sense of humor.
And frankly, no one plays a jaded Master of the Universe better than Douglas.
There’s something compelling about watching what will happen to him, whether
you’re rooting for his redemption or hoping against hope that he’ll hang himself
with one of those silk ties.
Grade: B-
