Country: United States
Genre: Drama/ Action/ Suspense/ Mainstream
Director: David Fincher
Year: 1997
Rating: 
TRASH CINEMA ESSENTIAL MOVIE
Investment banker Nicholas Van Orton (Michael Douglas) is a man you love to hate: distant or dismissive to those who care about him; sickeningly wealthy; utterly ungrateful; smug; and full of a sense of entitlement. But on his birthday, Nicholas is troubled; he’s right at the age at which his father committed suicide.
Conrad (Sean Penn), Nicholas’ ne’er-do-well brother, surprises him with a birthday present, a gift certificate to Consumer Recreation Services (CRS), an outfit which devises elaborate games for it’s clientele. Nicholas doesn’t like surprises.
As the game begins, Nicholas likes them less than less. His life begins to spin out of control, and as the game playing tactics of CRS become more aggressive, it seems as though there might be a malevolent conspiracy underlying the benign stated purpose of the company.
The Game is an unusual movie, in that it’s a completely different movie on first viewing and second viewing. On first viewing, The Game is a thriller about a man whose life is taken over by a game that he must unravel. On second viewing, the genre changes completely. Both movies are superb.
The Game works as well as it does because of near perfect execution. Michael Douglas is better than anyone alive at portraying white privilege — he’s the centerpiece, but the film is strewn with expert supporting performances from the likes of James Rebhorn, Peter Donat, and Armin Mueller-Stahl. The utterly original script from screenwriters John D. Brancato and Michael Ferris is diamond sharp. David Fincher directs seamlessly and with great energy. The foreboding score by Howard Shore perfectly reflects the hero’s inner state. The cinematography by Harris Savides is luminous.
The Game takes the viewer to the edge of the abyss, hovers there and…but I’ll let you find out for yourself.
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