What a rip-off

Rating: 4/10 (28 January 2016)

For the most part, "The Game" is a decent thriller. You question what is and isn't real, and Michael Douglas does a great job of selling the character's descent into paranoid angst (the whole thing's on his shoulders, and it's an admirable performance, mostly). But even so, in a movie that puts your protagonist through all manner of doubt and peril, I might've cared about his character were the direction not so detached. This movie is cold. Stylish, sure, but definitely clinical.
And honestly, no thrills can make up for that grossly moronic ending.
SPOILERS Alright, so after all of that stress and anxiety you've put this guy through, bringing him low enough to walk off the edge of a skyscraper roof, you neuter everything with an airbag waiting at street level. And then he just gets up, realizes it's all been a stunt (all to exorcise some daddy issues), and everything's okay? Cue the band and party atmosphere? What if he'd picked a different side of the roof to step over? And there's no way any sane human being wouldn't cold cock Sean Penn for that. Seriously.
It's a rug-pull, and it sours the whole movie.
Respect your audience, Fincher,
4/10