**The Game** Reviewed by Jeff Walters
I'm not a huge Michael Douglas fan.....maybe it's because he likes to play characters that no-one could like. At the start of this terrific movie, it looked like he would once again be playing an unlikable.......a character who you just couldn't care if lived or died. But slowly over the course of the movie, the character of Nicholas Van Orton grows as he learns off his experiences.
I have never seen Michael Douglas give a performance like this. He was terrific - I can't imagine anyone cast to play the role of Van Orton. Sean Penn plays his part well, but only really has one or two scenes to make his impression. Deborah Kara Unger, who plays the mysterious woman constantly crossing Van Orton's path, performs just as well as Douglas does, and it's a full time job trying to work out just what her agenda is.....is she really just an innocent woman dragged into the Game?
I thoroughly enjoyed this movie...up until the final two minutes. Before I say anymore - let me warn you that I'm about to give specific spoilers regarding the movies ending....so if you haven't seen it and want to remain blissfully ignorant then flee now.......they gone?....okay back to business. Van Orton has just mistakenly shot his brother because he thought it wasn't a Game, but a real plot against him. He is shattered and plunges off the roof in despair much like his father did when he was a child.....he is falling....and I'm sitting there thinking, Wow, what a powerful movie.....still falling......this was brilliant.....and then he lands safe and sound on a large air bag and there is a big happy ending. I'm sorry, did I just see that?
All of a sudden this dark and hauntingly brilliant movie is all light and happy. No-one got hurt, all is forgiven. Even though Van Orton was pushed to the brink of suicide and madness, everything is immediately fine and rosy. The movie even ended with Van Orton asking Miss Mysterious Woman out on a date......I don't think I've ever seen a movie do such a 180 degree turn in my life. What was a brilliant and powerful ending was thrown out the window in favour of an unconvincing and sugary happy ending. Why did they do it? My guess is that director David Fincher feared he might might be condemned again after the huge negative reaction he received the last time he made a character jump to their death (Ripley in Aliens 3).
This is a brilliant movie. You never know if it is a Game or a con job designed to rob Van Orton of all his assets until the end. But do yourself a favour, if you get this out on video - press 'stop' once Van Orton swan dives off the building, it will make a much more powerful impression on you that way. For once, a happy ending just really wasn't called for.
4 stars out of 5
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