The Game (1997)

Director: David Fincher
Story: John Brancato and Michael Ferris
Cast: Michael Douglas, Sean Penn
Music: Howard Shore
Time: 128 minutes
Bottom-line: Irresistible! 

Fincher’s second feature film, The Game is one where you have to realise, it’s not Michael Douglas who is playing, but it is you! Douglas plays Nicolas Van Orton, a wealthy investment banker, traumatised by his father’s suicide on his 48th birthday. On Nicolas’ 48th birthday, his brother Conrad (Penn) presents him with a voucher for a game organised by CRS (Consumer Recreational Services), with a promise that it will change his life! Nicolas reluctantly decides to give it a try. As the story progresses, Nicolas realises that CRS is toying around with his life – he starts to believe that his wealth and safety are at risk. He meets a waitress, Christine (Deborah Kara Unger) who also seems to be affected by CRS’ game. How do the two of them, and eventually Nicolas alone, encounter the dangers and play the game?

Douglas as Nicolas

This was a time when Fincher had just started to make a mark in the film industry. But despite his later success, The Game remains an underrated film. The story is highly entertaining, and I love the idea of how a man can get so terrorised by everyone and everything around him, believing it part of the game, trying to ruin him. The incidents occurring to him seem so natural, but everything seems to be part of the plan – someone spilling a drink on his dress, getting a taxi ride, even entering his own house (look out for the scene with the life size clown!). That is when you realise that you, as a viewer, are also part of the game; Fincher’s toying around with your mind! You are so involved that the climax hits you like a train hitting a fishbowl! The finale, like most Fincher films, is the debatable part. I, for one, liked the ending; it seemed logical, though it is practically impossible for such a thing to happen.

Penn as Conrad

Michael Douglas has done an outstanding job to play the lead role. He has the right look and temperament to play that character. I was amazed at the way he displayed all those emotions – fear, anger, the look of revenge, and every other emotion to show his transition from being a millionaire to a man roaming on the street. In the two hour long film, he is present on screen for over 100 minutes, and it is predominantly his performance that is the driving force. But the film does not have the usual trademarks of Fincher – no dim lit surroundings, no exploration of dark sides of people... rather it is a film about what all life can throw at you, either by fate or by someone else’s careful planning. This is about a man who is driven to the end of his wits, and how he deals with it.

So while the climax is a questionable topic, the rest of the film is exhilarating. Fincher and Douglas strike all the right notes to bring you a mesmerising mystery thriller, with no shortage of entertainment.

My Rating: 4/5
Rotten Tomatoes rating: 71%