A mind-bending thriller even the second time around

Rating: 9/10 (3 March 2012)

I had seen this movie at the theater when it came out in 1997, and decided to watch it again tonight (March 2012). I remembered that the movie ended with a birthday party and that the whole thing was fake and orchestrated by CRS the whole way through. Even so, while I was watching the movie again, a part of me couldn't help but believe CRS had actually missed finding the gun in Michael Douglas' house, and that he had actually killed his brother. I thought that perhaps I had remembered wrong and that the true ending was Michael Douglas committing suicide because he felt so bad about shooting his brother, and was depressed about being so lonely. Had the movie ended like that, I would still think it was a great movie because of the very powerful emotions the movie was trying to portray.
I have to admit the whole premise of putting your brother through all that as a "birthday present" is pretty perverse, but even having already seen the movie, I still thought it was gripping and brilliantly made. I'm sure that if you analyze the movie really closely, you will find some inconsistencies and situations that are completely implausible. But this was still thoroughly enjoyable: the big picture premise is truly mind-bending and impressively creative.