A Recommended Emotional Thriller

Rating: Null/10 (7 September 2001)

One of the best signs of a great film is that it brings out your emotions. This means it's making you think about and react to its characters. The Game does
this in spades. As all of these events unfold, dragging Nick with them, you keep wanting to give him suggestions and you certainly ask yourself repeatedly what you'd do in his place. Is it plausible? After a second viewing, I'd say that 95% of it would indeed be possible to pull-off, given the kinds of funds they made it clear were available to be spent. It would take serious thought and planning to cover all the angles, but it could be done.
::MINOR SPOILERS AHEAD:: Should the plot have gone other directions, such as having Nick be the only one who believed he was playing a game? Certainly not--films that have a single
protagonist following the truth with the rest of the world disbelieving are so common, they're beyond cliche. This film deftly avoided falling into that trap by having the "police" concede that there was evidence to support Nick's story (the graffiti, the ambulances, etc.) It also wisely kept one character (his lawyer) completely out of the loop, adding to the credibility of the plot.
::SEVERE SPOILERS AHEAD:: There's a serious plot hole in that they couldn't have predicted what side of the roof Nick would jump from. Nor could they have known he'd hit the airbag
back-first (hitting it head-down from that height could easily have been fatal.) In fact, having him hit the "X" instead of being a bit off-center really ruined the scene. And the plot doesn't deal at all with the natural anger Nick should have felt at being not only duped but made to think he'd killed his own brother (very uncool.) Instead he smiles and shakes hands with people who have put him through
such living hell he willingly chose to die. The ending absolutely begs for this to be addressed but it is not.
Nevertheless, any film that causes such thought-provoking discussion must
receive recommendation, even if it doesn't warrant a vote of "10".