When will they learn to leave well enough alone?

Rating: Null/10 (16 October 2000)

Aggghh... Watched this film on TNT the other night -- missed the last half-hour, so stayed up late until early in the morning to see the end on the "encore" presentation. What a disappointment. I had heard mixed things about this movie, but became intrigued by it while watching. What piqued my interest was the question as to what kind of "game" it was.
Warning, many SPOILERS FOLLOW.
The notion that they started messing with your mind was very interesting. Then it starts to degenerate -- they really just want to steal your money. OK, I can deal with that, that makes it at least an interesting plot twist and makes a comment -- things you do for fun sometimes get out of your control. And of course the complete breakdown of the world's wealthiest and most self-centered man was fun to watch.
I was even with them for the first (trick) ending. After Conrad was "shot," I was thinking it was an interesting movie, and when Nicholas pitches himself off the building, I was truly impressed. At that point, that was his only way out after killing his brother as the result of a prank. It made perfect sense and I felt a good sense of relief that the film would end that way, even if the shot of him dropping to the pavement went on for a while.
Then he starts crashing through the glass, not once, but twice, and then lands on a big safety air mattress. Until I noticed the big X in the center, I was thinking that it was there for another reason unconnected to him, and that by some freak of fate he was going to live through this and have to deal with the consequences. Even better.
Then the whole thing falls apart when Conrad walks in alive. Sure, there's a moment of "wow," but then you have to think what your reaction would be. I'd have killed the little punk, not hugged him. I'd go and find real bullets for that gun after what he put me through, if I was Nicholas. Would have wrecked the party, but hey, that's what you get if you mess with someone's head like that.
Like other Hollywood movies, it seems that more folks had their hands in the pie and dictated a happy ending. Had it ended with both of them dying, it would be a great movie. This way, it's just another schlocky movie that panders to the perceived need for a happy ending, and tries unsuccessfully to make some comment about the dangers of being wealthy and self-centered. And ultimately, those dangers and the repercussions are not real, so the lesson is completely lost.