Review: The Game (1997) A Movie Review by David Sunga
Starring: Michael Douglas, Sean Penn, Deborah Kara Unger, James Rebhorn and Anna Katerina
Directed by: David Fincher.
Written by: John Brancato, Michael Ferris
Ingredients: Mr. Smug unravels mentally, dangerous babe involved, lots of foreboding darkness, visual artistry.
Synopsis: Perhaps because of his father's suicide, Nicholas Van Orton (Michael Douglas) has grown up to become a San Francisco billionaire who doesn't value people and thinks nothing of putting them out of business. As a birthday present from his younger brother Conrad (Sean Penn), a former mental therapy patient, Van Orton agrees to contact a game-playing corporation called CRS. He waits for them to start his surprise game, but he isn't told what kind of game his brother Conrad has volunteered him for. Four or five live-threatening situations later Van Orton is a haggard and penniless bum, and it seems apparent that the game was all an elaborate ruse involving hundreds of actors in order to steal his signature, access codes and bank accounts.
Van Orton gets a gun intending to find out who is behind the game and get his life back. Just when it seems all the cards are falling into place and he has their scheme all figured out, the movie throws a surprise ending at us, which was somewhat foreshadowed by Van Orton's persistent flashbacks of his father's suicide.
Opinion: It's slightly annoying not knowing what ‘the game' is and why omnipresent CRS con men seem to be taking Nicholas Van Orton's life away until the final scene. But it doesn't matter because it's so fun watching Michael Douglas not know either, and flail away trying to find out. The plot keeps you in the dark about what's going on so that you begin to experience a little of Van Orton's paranoia. Adding to the murky feeling is the cinematography, which portrays all scenes in darkness and dim lighting but high detail.
Michael Douglas turns in an excellent performance because he knows just when to flash his smug ‘I think I know what the heck's going on' smirk and when to panic like a madman. Deborah Kara Unger provides great support in the role of Christine, a mysterious waitress who seems to be Van Orton's only clue to what may be going on.
Reviewed by David Sunga
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