For every thriller like "The Usual Suspects" or "The Sixth Sense" that can pull off a spectacular surprise ending, there are half a dozen like "Reindeer Games" that work themselves into a sweat trying to cram in twist after twist. After "Suspects" or "Sense" wrap up, you can replay the movie in your mind and put all the pieces together, but when "Reindeer Games" runs its course, you'll probably be wondering why you bothered sitting through the film in the first place.
You know you've wandered into a bad movie when the finale begins with the bad guys preparing to do away with the hero, then stopping just long enough to engage him in a long-winded conversation in which the villains carefully explain every step they took in setting up their wicked scheme. All this blather, of course, gives the hero several minutes in which to figure out how he's going to escape and kill his captors. In "Reindeer Games," Rudy Duncan (Ben Affleck) has what seems like a week to get away from the nefarious Gabriel (Gary Sinise) and his partners; suffice to say, theirs was an extraordinarily complicated plan.
The film was written by Ehren Kruger, who did a swell job of ruining "Scream 3" by packing the last reel with absurd action and ridiculous last-minute revelations. In "Games," the denouement involves more double-crosses, false identities and dirty secrets than you'd find in an entire library of Raymond Chandler novels, and you can bet no one is going to mistake this mess for "The Big Sleep" or "Farewell, My Lovely."
Rudy, the closest thing to a real person in Kruger's world, is fresh from prison and anxious to hook up with some hot chocolate and pecan pie before going home to his family. Instead, he connects with Ashley (Charlize Theron), the former pen pal of his now-deceased cell mate. Aside from her mile-long false eyelashes and ugly coats, Ashley also brings with her a vicious brother named Gabriel, who wants Rudy's help in robbing an Indian casino.
On its way to the big heist, "Games" wobbles uncertainly between suspense and spoof, mixing harsh violence with awkwardly inserted comedy. If director John Frankenheimer was hoping his film might be mistaken for a Quentin Tarantino opus, he was sorely mistaken. Tarantino's screenplays have a good deal more depth and color than anything Kruger can whip up.
Although Affleck and Sinise are reliably solid and Theron does everything in her power to make the best of an unplayable role, no one should have bothered wasting their energy. These "Games" were not worth playing in the first place. James Sanford
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