Hey, I'll Give This a Try

Rating: 7/10 (8 June 2016)

A few weeks ago a former student brought three boxes of VHS tapes to my classroom. She knew I like that format for its sturdiness, and I depend on VCRs to record movies, transferring them to disk if a movie is a keeper.
Most of the videos were films I already had or had already seen and didn't want, but I appreciated this young woman's thoughtfulness.
With that said, I found David Fincher's The Game, a movie that interested me when it first came out 19 years ago. I've seen so many crappy or mediocre films lately that I was hoping for a gem hidden in the box.
And I got one.
The best things about this psychological thriller are that, although it often brushes up against the absurd, it never gets saturated with silliness, and Michael Douglas is both infuriating and sympathetic as a heartless and driven money-mover who, after being given a very unusual birthday gift by his ne'er-do-well brother, Sean Penn, finds that the gift keeps on giving. Or taking, in this case.
For 128 minutes, I was able to jettison everything else, and become immersed in a story that was both fresh and fun. The Game is tightly plotted and well-acted, and only occasionally gets a bit boggy from aforementioned absurdities. Not enough to fuss about.
I thought I might be in for something above average with Douglas' character being confronted with that I-hate-clowns clown in his driveway, followed by being talked to directly by Daniel Schorr on TV.
It's a very trippy flick, with enough escapist power, twists and turns, and an understated moral to give an old movie-lover/movie- cynic a good solid entertainment.
Fire up the VHS to DVD transfer software!