The Game (1997) Review

THE GAME (1997)
Director: David Fincher

Writers: John Brancato and Michael Ferris

Producers: Jonathon Mostow, Steve Golin, Ceán Chaffin, Michael Ferris, and John Brancato

Editor: James Haygood

Cinematography: Harris Savides

Music: Howard Shore

Starring: Michael Douglas, Deborah Kara Unger, Sean Penn, and James Rebhorn

Runtime: 2 hours 9 minutes

Rating: R (language, some violence and sexuality)

Genre: Mystery, Suspense, Drama

Release Date: September 12, 1997

Intro: Twas a rainy day a couple weeks ago in the Southland (Southern California for those of you who don't live here) and I had the day off school. I also had Netflix at my disposal and wanted to watch a mystery/suspense or film noir-esque movie. I chose to do a double feature of The Game and Drive. I chose the game because it's a David Fincher movie, and I am a fan of his. I also read the synopsis and it sounded really interesting. The Game is like a football team at the one-yard line on 4th down with only a few seconds left on the clock. It is about to score a crucial touchdown if only it can pull off the last play right, but somehow it ends up failing to score, despite all the options it has to do so. The Game is gripping and suspenseful to the end, but it fails to execute the ending in a manner that satisfyingly wraps up a movie with great acting, a good script, and lots of potential, thus leaving the viewer extremely frustrated.

Plot: Nicholas Van Orton (Douglas) is a wealthy banker in San Francisco without any real friends. It's his 48th birthday and this has an impact on him because that was the age his father committed suicide. After spending most of his birthday alone, his formerly troubled brother Conrad who he has not seen in years (Penn) invites him to dinner. Conrad brings him a present of a card to try out a new type of entertainment called CRS or Consumer Recreation Services, since Conrad did it and loved it. Intrigued, Nicholas goes to CRS and signs up for their real life "game."Suddenly, weird things begin happening to Nicholas that only get worse and worse as he and a girl he meets (Unger) are sure CRS is up to something. The only thing to do now is for Nicholas to find out what exactly CRS is doing by piecing together what scraps of information he can find while trying to keep his sanity.

Things people may find “objectionable”: The big thing here is swearing. The f-word is used occasionally, along with some milder ones. There is also one scene where there sexual pictures laying around a room, but it is impossible to see any nudity since they are flashed at you quickly or are too far away to make out anything.

Ratings:

     -Directing/Cinematography: 10/10. It had the stylized and interesting direction of David Fincher that I've come to like. I really like Fincher because he picks really interesting shots and adds a smooth, yet suspenseful directing style to the movie. Part of the reason I chose to watch this movie is that I knew if nothing else, it would have good directing.

     -Acting: 9/10. This was definitely a strength. Michael Douglas does a great job as Nicholas and the supporting actors all give solid performances as well. Even though he has a minor role, I liked Sean Penn as Nicholas' brother. He seems to me to play the part well.

     -Writing: 6.5.

          -Story: 6/10. The story is good and well-told for quite a while with several plot twists, albeit there are a few plot holes. The only problem is that the ending seemed underwhelming and unsatisfying, as if it almost didn't fit in with the rest of the movie. There are a million different ways the writers could've ended the movie that would've made it immensely more satisfying than the way they chose to do it. To be honest, the ending ruined the movie for me. It was confusing and extremely unsatisfying. I like the message and meaning behind the ending, but it just seemed out of place, considering the tone and general direction of the movie beforehand. It almost seemed like the screenwriters got stuck when trying to write an ending, so they just went with this one because they couldn't think of anything better. It reminds me quite a bit of the ending of Huckleberry Finn, on which Twain got stuck and settled for a lesser ending after carrying the story spectacularly up until then. Anyway, the plot was good except for the infuriating ending.

          -Script: 7/10. Pretty good script. While it wasn't the best ever written, it was definitely solid. If nothing else, it served its purpose well.

     -Special Effects: 8/10. Not used much, and when used, used subtly, but they work nicely. The best one was the guy on the TV phasing in and out telling Nicholas about his game. It was pretty subtle, but it was creepy and fitting.

Expressing my frustration with how the end of the movie
was written.

     -Music/Score: 9/10. The music is quiet, creepy, and suspenseful and accurately reflects the tone of the movie. I though the score, though it wasn't meant to stick out, did a very good job at adding that extra something to make several scenes more suspenseful.

     -Power/Emotion: 5/10. I can't really pretend that the characters have a ton of depth in this movie. They really don't. The screenwriters try to give them some, but it is fairly obvious that all the time and effort was put in to the story and not the characters (and yet they couldn't manage to come up with a good ending). Still, you manage to feel for Nicholas, especially as he begins to fall lower and lower.

     -Adrenaline: 9/10. This movie is the definition of a potboiler. It does a good job at keeping you thrilled from beginning to the bad ending. Just when you think you know where the movie is going, it pulls the rug out from under you with another plot twist and it always keeps you guessing. I think this involvement in the plot the movie creates makes the ending just more disappointing. Like I said, there are so many other ways in which the movie could have ended that would have blown the audience's minds and capitalized on the immense suspense it had been building up, but this is sadly not the case.

     -Mind-Bendingness: 8/10. The one thing I loved about this movie is how many plot twists it had, as it always kept you thinking and wondering what exactly is going on. It's almost like you're playing the game along with Nicholas, as you never know more about his situation than he does. I definitely love movies that engage you mentally, and this is one of them.

     -Humor: 1/10. Not very much humor in the movie, but the writers weren't really putting much effort into it.

     -Best Credit: Jason Kristofer as "Teen Thug."

     -Final Score: The Game is a really good mystery/suspense movie that always leaves you guessing what's next, but its ending kills all the momentum and tension the movie had been building up. If there had been a different ending of pretty much any kind, The Game would be a great, memorable, and exciting mystery/suspense, but for me, the ending ruined everything. If you don't mind getting disappointed by the ending, you should watch the movie, as it's a great ride to get there.

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