A flawed masterpiece

Rating: Null/10 (30 May 2003)

In The Game, Michael Douglas plays a middle-aged, lonely and slightly bored executive. His brother, Sean Penn gives him a token for the ultimate game experience- not just real-time here folks. Beginning with a bizarre clown and ending with a lot of unanswered questions, The Game is certainly a film that you will be talking about for a long time after the slightly suspect conclusion.
David Fincher creates a tension-saturated thriller here. The murky visuals of The Game experience and the heady visuals of the Clockwork Orange-like introduction sequence to Douglas' game are striking. Sean Penn gives an excellent, if slightly too eager performance as the brother and Deborah Unger leaves a significant impression as the shady Christine. The film excels from the moment Douglas enters the game's headquarters until about five minutes from the end.
This is where the film fails. The joy of a film like this is in receiving a fantastic payoff but this conclusion is far from satisfying. The nature of `the game' is more-or-less revealed at the end, which is fine. However when you realise what has happened it more-or-less spoils the film. The beginning of the movie verges on the dull too, where we are treated to lots of brooding shots of Douglas thinking about his long lost father.

However, ignore the ending and experience the ride there. In this respect, this film is pretty much the best thriller of the 90s.