The Game
(1997)
|
For the follow-up to his dark crime thriller SEVEN, director David Fincher decided to remain in a film noir vein. The result is THE GAME, a fast-paced cinematic roller-coaster ride that stars Michael Douglas as Nicholas Van Orton, a joyless San Francisco investment banker who receives an unusual birthday present from his estranged younger brother, Conrad (Sean Penn). The gift enrolls Nicholas in CRS (Consumer Recreation Services), a company that designs elaborate real-life games for each specific participant. As the game begins, the reluctant Nicholas becomes the victim of a series of pranks that quickly turn malicious and dangerous. Stripped of his finances and convinced that he can trust no one, Nicholas realizes that this game may be an attempt to steal his fortune and leave him for dead. In a desperate bid to regain his life, Nicholas infiltrates CRS in order to uncover the secrets of the mysterious organization. |
Michael Douglas is perfectly cast as the increasingly desperate pawn in this visually stylish thriller from Se7en director David Fincher, which successfully cranks up the suspense and continually questions what's real and what isn't. When hard-nosed businessman Douglas is given the ultimate birthday present by his brother Sean Penn — the chance to play an all-encompassing “reality game” that promises life-changing consequences — he gets swept into what he perceives as a paranoid conspiracy. Sadly, what starts off as a fascinating tale soon becomes glossy and trivial.
Halliwell's Film Guide
A high-energy paranoid thriller that plunges its protagonist, and the audience, into a world where nothing is to be trusted; the result is some dazzling sleight-of-hand.