Edge of your seat film captivates with stunts and scares

Rating: 6/10 (3 July 2008)

Full of stunts and scares aplenty, "The Game" features a very clever plot that captivates throughout, often drawing you to the edge of your seat. This intriguing thriller then becomes too neat and loses its vice-like grip in an ending whose tidiness spoils what was until then a dark, scary and baffling film. The tricky denouement ends up being too clever for its own good, and may leave an enthralled audience disappointed.
Michael Douglas again produces the goods in another nail-biter as a ruthless but uptight executive whose world is utterly inverted when he is thrust headlong into "The Game". Viewers will have no problem believing his terror and desperation at every turn of the slick plot. Strong too is the support cast, including a little seen Sean Penn as the younger brother who introduces Douglas to the life changing mayhem that is "The Game".
David Fincher's direction keeps things bounding at a rate of knots, ensuring the audience remains riveted. I found it surprising though that Fincher (of "Alien3" and "Seven" fame) did not supply a more unnerving, sinister ending.
Saturday, October 4, 1997 - Hoyts Forest Hill Chase