The Game Review- By Michael Carlisle

 Title: The Game
Year: 1997
Director: David Fincher
Country: US
Language: English

For many years I have felt that David Fincher was an overrated, un-impressive hack. The first review I wrote for Piss on It was Fincher's Fight Club, which I called "a mediocre film that celebrates fascism and glorifies violence" and "masturbation material for angry teenagers and testosterone filled men." While I stand by my review of that  film, because I still believe it to be true, Fincher's The Game has made me strongly reconsider my feelings for the director.

First off, the film is very technically well made. You can tell that Fincher is a master of his craft. The film has a dark look, a love for shadows. The pacing of the film, the lighting, the cinematography and the score all contribute greatly to the paranoid and distressing mood of the film. The Game is ingeniously well written, the dialogue adds depth to each and every character. As the plot progresses so does our worry for the main character Nicholas Van Orton, who may not be in a game at all, but in an assassination plot. This film is not for the weak of heart.

The great Michael Douglas plays the main character known as Nicholas Van Orton in this film. He rich man in obsessive control of his life and the lives of people around him. People practically paralyze in fear due to

He can also play men about to get stabbed

 the way lays his demands on them. Van Orton lives alone in an enormous mansion wherein his father committed suicide at the same age his son is now. He is incredibly lonely and at risk of following in his father's depressive footsteps, we can clearly see this when he celebrates his birthday by eating a cheeseburger and watching CNN by himself. Michael Douglas is the perfect actor for this role. He has the natural look of an intelligent and powerful man, his film resume which includes classics like The China Syndrome and Fatal Attraction proves that he can also play very angry, frustrated and sad men.

The plot begins when Van Orton's younger brother Conrad (Sean Penn) visits him and announces a birthday present known as "The Game". This game is operated by a very shady establishment known as the Consumer Recreation Services. The Game never quite declares its rules or objectives, but soon it takes Van Orton into its grasp and makes life incredibly difficult. Conrad promises that the game will``make your life fun again,'' but the game seems to do everything but that.

Soon his life becomes a chaotic and disorienting mess. He finds himself paying for a trashed hotel room that he didn't even stay in. He finds himself blackmailed, his bank accounts are emptied. The chaos escalates when he is left for dead. Is this a game? or is it something much worse? Perhaps the game is a conspiracy hatched to steal all of his money. Regardless of what we think this is, we know that it's a nightmare for Van Orton. A once detached millionaire who has now become reduced to a stumbling, bumbling, desperate man on the run.

I only have two concerns about this film. How re-watchable is it? The film relies on the suspense of not knowing what is about to happen next. When you've already seen the film and know what's going to happen, doesn't that hurt the entire experience? I would definitley recommend this to anybody who likes, or wishes to study, paranoid thriller films as this is one of the best examples of it but I don't think I would watch it again. Another concern is the ending which seems like the most unrealistic and cheesy part of the film. While I like that it gives a film a good moral to end on, Van Orton's reaction seems implausible. Frankly, I'd be furious.

In conclusion, never doubt a film that stars Michael Douglas. He is one of the greatest actors of all time and doesn't seem to pick bad films to be in. The film stays true to its nightmarish paranoia until the very end. Even though the very end is somewhat contrived contrived this film is still one of the best thrillers of the 90's. I also give Fincher credit for creating this great film without the use of excessive violence. 3.5/5