Takes both brain and heart to get it

Rating: 8/10 (19 March 2006)

What if you were bored with your life, and all of a sudden, your life becomes an action movie where you have to work hard just to survive? That's basically what happened to Nicholas van Orten, the movie protagonist. The cold rich suit is driven to the edge, because his brother wanted to give him a good birthday present.
Who can you trust? Is he in on it, is she in on it? Is it still just a game, or are they really trying to steal your money? Is Conrad, the brother, setting you up so he can get out of it himself? Is Christine working for them after all? If so, is she trying to get out? What about Sutherland? The police? The taxi drivers? The hotel staff?
The "Game Over" has bothered many, but that's where the heart comes in. It takes a brain to follow the twists of the movie, but if the heart is lacking, the end is just... lame. It's a cheap cop-out from an otherwise dark and tragic movie. If the (figurative) heart is there, and working as it should... Mine seems to be, I wasn't far from tears then. The ending is beautiful, Nicholas was brought to the very edge and fell - having found the meaning of the game.
Some reviewers, I say this for them, are bothered with the many things CRS had to be ready for, but that's where the whole day of tests came in. Those tests made it possible for the CRS to figure out the things Nicholas could do. It is a movie, and not a real-life conspiracy. But it does remain plausiblbe. I nominate it for the 'ride of your life' award, because it sure is a ride, and you'll be sitting on the edge of your seat once it starts twisting and turning.
The first half hour or so was slow and boring, and the movie seemed far less entertaining than it ended up being. It lacked in music at places, but for most part, it didn't need music.
To sum it up, there is one question we have to ask during the movie, a question we are being asked by the movie itself: What is the Matrix? *ahem* I mean, what is the Game?