Terrible!

Rating: 1/10 (8 January 2002)

There are two reactions to this movie - People like it or hate it. Put me in the second camp. Whether it was "The Freshman" or "The Truman Show," you've seen this bad, bad movie before. It's the wish fulfillment of the arrogant. It goes something like this in "the Game:" You may be an a**hole but you're such an important a**hole that everyone in your life (even Daniel Shor) is playacting just for your benefit, just to guide you to a lesson. It still flatters self-important d**kheads into thinking that people in their lives are pawns manipulated for their benefit.
Regardless of continual trick endings, you've already suspected the whole thing is a ruse, because if it's not, it's a pretty standard and boring conspiracy thriller. The movie has a few funny moments early on then it becomes mysterious, then it become more mysterious, then more mysterious, then more mysterious, then more mysterious, then more mysterious, then more mysterious, then... Get the picture? Did you really want me to say "more mysterious" again? No! Because part of the fun of a mystery is being allowed to play along. Providing developments instead of underlining the mystery again and again. "Contact" did this beautifully. Although it eventually gets nowhere, every fifteen minutes or so you're allowed to see a little more of a full picture. Here, the mystery just deepens without any actual developments. Wasn't anyone in a preview shouting, "Yes, David WE GET IT!"? It gets so tedious that I actually skipped three or four chapters onthe DVD. I just didn't care. It reminded me of "Total Recall" and "Sleuth." 2 other movies that wear you out with pointless plot-twists and reversals.
Hollywood airheads think they recognize this as an idea film. "The Game" remains a game to no matter to what absurd scale it grows, even though there is no way you could even anticipate the random causes and effects in a single day of your life. Free will is completely erased in this movie. That's just how smart the controllers of the game are. Sadly David Fincher isn't that smart and there are plot-holes you could throw talentless scriptwriters through. How did they know where he'd jump off the building? Don't ask such silly questions! Surface effects are much more important than credibility. And that final "wow' ending (Think of this movie as a really long tedious sermon) matters more than any internal logic. As idea films go, this one tugs - If rich pompous businessmen require a ruse this elaborate and expensive, who would actually care about them?
Finchers ideas are really lame. I can now add this to the list of very bad Fincher movies. Seven, Alien 3, and it's so bad that it even makes me reconsider Fight Club and it's lame ending.
The people I know who like this movie are self-important blowhards most in need of a lesson like this. I knew enough to suspect their raves. I would jam this baby into my top five worst movies of all time list.