Review: The Game Starring Michael Douglas, Sean Penn, Deborah Kara Unger and James Rehborn. Directed by David Fincher.
David Fincher's previous film, "Seven" showed great improvements on his first, "Alien 3". "The Game" is another step forward for Fincher, though in a slightly different direction. This is a thrilling, suspenseful and frightening, though somewhat unsatisfying film. As with many of today's pictures, a certain amount of "suspension of disbelief" is necessary in order to appreciate the events unfolding before you on the screen. But Douglas' performance, Harris Savides' photography and Fincher's gothic (though not at all grungey) direction makes this a classic thriller.
Douglas plays Nicholas Van Orton, a middle-aged investment banker living in the lap of luxury in San Francisco. He is divorced, he has no children, seemingly, no life at all. When he is not ruling the corporate world from the office, he is sitting at home, watching financial news, or flashing back to his childhood, when his father leapt from the family mansion to his death. Van Orton's younger brother Conrad (Sean Penn) visits him and gives him a birthday gift certificate for a company called Consumer Recreation Services, CRS. "Tell me you'll call", he says, trying to convince his older brother that this game will change his life forever. The events that occur after the call make it impossible for Van Orton to tell the difference between his own life and what he thinks is a game. Events based in reality happen in his club, in his home, in his car and in his office, and as the film progresses, things get worse. He begins to confront more and more people in a haze of paranoia, never having a firm grip on what is actually happening to him. Each non-related disaster that hits him justifies his paranoia, when he begins to feel that this CRS is out to destroy him financially and even kill him.
Sean Penn is terribly miscast as Conrad Van Orton, the black sheep younger brother. Penn, who receives second billing only because of his stardom, has essentially three scenes totaling approximately 15 minutes over the 128 minute film. An actor of his depth and intensity is wasted in such a small, unchallenging role. Only the cleft in his chin makes him the right choice to play a Douglas. Second billing would much more appropriately go to Deborah Kara Unger, who's performance as Van Orton's mysterious femme fatale is sexy and sinister.
San Francisco is used quite beautifully in this film. Fincher's expected grunge look is nowhere to be seen in this film. Rather he cleans up the look and shows us San Francisco in a rather different light. Very little in this film is bright and colorful, but the blues and grays that he uses give the buildings of the financial district an overpowering look at times, almost as if they are a big part of the world Van Orton is trapped in. Unlike "The Rock", in which San Francisco is primarily shown through tourist-like skyline shots, "The Game" shows San Francisco's downtown from mostly street level and constricts Van Orton and all the other characters, creating a claustrophobic feeling.
"The Game" is a thriller of the highest degree, with lots of things that you probably won't expect and probably havn't seen before. The shock ending will make you think about the events that developed, and justify some of them, and others may just bug you. But either way, Fincher keeps you glued to the seat. (I really had to go...I held it in the whole time.) He gives you an interesting look at an interesting city, and he gives you some things to think about. The frustration that builds up during the film should be relieved at the end, but whether or not it builds up again after you think about all of it, is up to you. Three and a half out of Four stars. Copyright (C) 1997 Nicholas Amado ***************************** Comments? Complaints? Criticism? Debate? Email me: NAMIAM@AOL.COM
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