An exciting exercise in impossibility.

Rating: Null/10 (28 February 2004)

From the beginning of this film to about the last few minutes, I'd have rated it 10 out of 10 on the action level. But overall, the last few minutes of the film dropped that rating to zero. I don't care how many psychological profile tests a person takes, human beings are by and large unpredictable. And, along with that unpredictability is the absolute unpredictability of human beings NOT INVOLVED in 'the game' ... persons whose intervention in the process could have greatly affected the outcome. The plot, overall, was an exercise in impossibility ... a 'game' that, due to the variables, could have had detrimental if not fatal effects on anyone involved (or even people not involved). That, in turn, made the 'game' a highly irresponsible endeavor. If I were Douglas' character, I'd not have felt relieved when the game was finally exposed as just a game. I'd have felt angry and insulted ... and would have distanced myself even further from friends and relatives involved in the process. Far from being a 'gift', I'd have seen it as disrespectful and as an affront.
This movie's theme was an elaborate practical joke played on one character. But, the real practical joke was played on the people who watched it. I can't speak for others but, in my case, I was not amused.