The Experience Economy

Rating: Null/10 (22 November 2000)

THE EXPERIENCE ECONOMY
In 1999 Joseph Pine and James Gilmore wrote a book, `The Experience Economy.' Their premise was that for businesses to survive they must stage experiences. By way of example they cited the mythical Consumer Recreation Services (CRS) featured in `The Game.' `The Game' stars Michael Douglas as Nicholas Van Orton, who is such a cold-blooded capitalist he makes Gordon Gekko (Douglas' Academy-Award winning role in `Wall Street') look like a philanthropist. Van Orton's life consists of watching financial news on the television in his mansion, firing unproductive managers-and obsessing on his father, who committed suicide at age 48. He can barely remember his ex-wife's name.
The movie begins on Van Orton's birthday-his 48th. His ne'er-do-well brother (Sean Penn) gives him as a present `The Game,' and the adventure is on. Before the movie is over Nicholas will be shot at, drugged, impoverished-and that's just the fun part. And even though the movie has been called mean-spirited, in the end he will find a type of redemption and a new direction.
The beauty of `The Game' is in its unpredictability. You never know where the movie is headed. In fact, you're not even sure how the movie ends. As usual, director David Fincher fills each frame with detail and color. He makes even a stock shot of an airplane landing fascinating.
Don't look for a lot of logic here. Roger Ebert talks about the impossibility of Chuck Norris' character crashing a motorcycle into a house at the exact spot he needs to in `Delta Force.' CRS has to do something similar dozens of times in this film, and always is on the mark. And we'd love to know how much Penn would have paid for his brother's experience. The movie teases us with this at the end.
Douglas and Penn have some of their best roles here, and Deborah Kara Unger is fine as a waitress (or is she?) who becomes involved in Douglas' game. But it is character actor James Rebhorn who steals the film as Douglas' operative-or is he?