The GameThere's a line which a relatively inconsequential character tells to multi-millionaire investment banker, Nicholas Van Orton (Michael Douglas): "I wish I could go back and do it again for the first time". He is referring to "The Game", a personalized and tailor-suited role-playing experience, from which David Fincher's The Game draws its name. So in that spirit, I will avoid giving away the secrets this labyrinthine thriller holds, and hope to leave you with as much enjoyment from the suspense--because as another line in the movie elucidates: "the object of the game is figuring out the object of the game".
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Nicholas Van Orton is on the cusp of his forty-eighth birthday, but is spending it in his fortress of solitude, his mansion where he is cared for by his maid, Ilsa (Carroll Baker), and works in his imposing, castle-like office in downtown San Francisco. Nicholas is not a man given to frivolity; so when his free-wheeling brother, Conrad (Sean Penn) gifts him with an invitation to CRS (short for "Consumer Recreation Services", for the most part)--which he describes as a "profound life experience" and "entertainment service" both, Nicholas scoffs but politely accepts. But when he finds himself at the tail end of a walking business meeting in the building where CRS's new branch appears to have opened, he decides to submit--cautiously--to their offer. But what fun would a suspenseful movie be without some kind of deception, some kind of misdirection...and so Nicholas finds that Conrad's gift comes with some unexpected conditions, and the "experiential 'book-of-the-month club'" pitched to Nicholas by CRS sales representative, Jim Feingold (James Rebhorn) carries some experiences which Nicholas could not have prepared himself for. So for the majority of the film, nothing is what it seems; in fact, upon repeat viewings, I still find myself looking for subtle clues buried within the fastidious detail and sorcerous guile which Fincher works to misdirect us from the web which Nicholas is being drawn into.
Nicholas' game is filled with danger, excitement, and mystery, but The Game also pulls back the curtain on his past. In our first glimpse into his world, we see Nicholas as a young boy, through a series of old home movies from a much younger birthday party. His father is featured in the movie, looking professional and melancholy both, a kind of shadow precursor to the older Nicholas we see later. In time, we learn of Nicholas' father's fate, and piece together its significance over Nicholas and Conrad's lives, how their relationship has been strained and distant, Nicholas assuming the role of responsible control-freak, and "Connie" that of the devil may care party maniac. Nicholas may resent Conrad...maybe they resent each other for what they don't have, but Conrad does try to breathe some life into his older brother, lest he becomes a corpse before he's even dead. I've heard it described that The Game is something of a modern "Christmas Carol", and the parallels are all there. Nicholas is a three-piece Ebenezer Scrooge, Conrad his nephew Fred, and so on...only the ghosts--in the form of CRS--are more of the "lurking shade" type vis-a-vis how they propel the miserly mogul to reevaluate his relationships with his closest friends and family, as well as confronting his overall withdrawal from society at large. Another comparison made with The Game is to the master of suspense, Alfred Hitchcock, and the stylistic similarities. Considering that the film has a multitude of twists and turns, as well as a main character who is pursued in a fashion, one who at least considers himself a victim, and the likening to Hitchcock's works is not so implausible. The comparison is further accentuated if you consider how it mirrors my personal favorite film, Vertigo: set principally in San Francisco, Nicholas periodically pursues an attractive blond--she calls herself Christine (Deborah Kara Unger)--with her own secrets, and a "hero" undergoes a drastic and lengthy transformation...even Howard Shore's music bears some tonal similarities to Bernard Herrmann (maybe it's my imagination, but I love both their works). And like any good game, the film challenges its viewers, not content to let the audience become lulled into complacency...unless that too is a part of the deception.
Recommended for: Fans of intelligent and engagingly complex thrillers, with a deep but still accessible plot, a story about the misadventure of a one-percenter forced to take a close look at his life and discover what is truly important.
Nicholas' game is filled with danger, excitement, and mystery, but The Game also pulls back the curtain on his past. In our first glimpse into his world, we see Nicholas as a young boy, through a series of old home movies from a much younger birthday party. His father is featured in the movie, looking professional and melancholy both, a kind of shadow precursor to the older Nicholas we see later. In time, we learn of Nicholas' father's fate, and piece together its significance over Nicholas and Conrad's lives, how their relationship has been strained and distant, Nicholas assuming the role of responsible control-freak, and "Connie" that of the devil may care party maniac. Nicholas may resent Conrad...maybe they resent each other for what they don't have, but Conrad does try to breathe some life into his older brother, lest he becomes a corpse before he's even dead. I've heard it described that The Game is something of a modern "Christmas Carol", and the parallels are all there. Nicholas is a three-piece Ebenezer Scrooge, Conrad his nephew Fred, and so on...only the ghosts--in the form of CRS--are more of the "lurking shade" type vis-a-vis how they propel the miserly mogul to reevaluate his relationships with his closest friends and family, as well as confronting his overall withdrawal from society at large. Another comparison made with The Game is to the master of suspense, Alfred Hitchcock, and the stylistic similarities. Considering that the film has a multitude of twists and turns, as well as a main character who is pursued in a fashion, one who at least considers himself a victim, and the likening to Hitchcock's works is not so implausible. The comparison is further accentuated if you consider how it mirrors my personal favorite film, Vertigo: set principally in San Francisco, Nicholas periodically pursues an attractive blond--she calls herself Christine (Deborah Kara Unger)--with her own secrets, and a "hero" undergoes a drastic and lengthy transformation...even Howard Shore's music bears some tonal similarities to Bernard Herrmann (maybe it's my imagination, but I love both their works). And like any good game, the film challenges its viewers, not content to let the audience become lulled into complacency...unless that too is a part of the deception.
Recommended for: Fans of intelligent and engagingly complex thrillers, with a deep but still accessible plot, a story about the misadventure of a one-percenter forced to take a close look at his life and discover what is truly important.