This could have been a DISASTER!!!

Rating: 8/10 (30 January 2011)

The plot (not the writing) of this film is ridiculous. But it works! Director David Fincher did a masterful job of taking a well written, but very far fetched, story and knitted it together with great performances by Michael Douglas (spectacular), Deborah Kara Unger, Sean Penn, and brilliant atmospherics that make this a stomach twister from beginning to end, and end, and end, (there are three). When viewing a film like this you have to ask or answer only one question. Does it suspend your disbelief long enough for you to go along with what you're seeing and have the required emotional response for the story to move forward? The answer here is, YES.
If not for Michael Douglas and Deborah Kara Unger this could not have worked. Douglas, as Nicholas Van Orten, brings the audience along with him on a terrifying journey, The Game, from his perch high above the financial world to his complete ruin, destitution, and eventual suicide. It is a wild and scary ride and at least once I jumped right out of my seat. Deborah Kara Unger, as Kristine, had an equally challenging job and I loved how she did it. She is the chameleon in the story. She deftly blends into whatever phase the story is at and you're never quite sure if she's a killer, a thief, the mastermind, or your best friend. How she does this is amazing to watch. A simple turn of her head can send a chill up your spine and you suddenly know (or think you know) she's not who you thought she was. When Van Orten confronts her with her fake first communion picture she's toast. Or so you think. Without missing a beat she walks right up to him and whispers, "they're watching". It's chilling. I love performances that are quiet and mysterious and hers is as good as they come.
The original music by Howard Shore is brilliant. The score, as far as I can tell, uses only a few strings, piano, and a very haunting French Horn. So simple, but so effective. Other popular songs dot the movie and that's where my only complaint of this film comes in. I love the song "White Rabbit" by Jefferson Airplane. And it's used to great affect in this film to scare the crap out of you. And so from now on when I hear it I'll think about getting the crap scared out of me. Thanks.
This really could have been a disaster. It's very well written but without Fincher's direction and a brilliant cast all bringing their "A" game it would never have worked. The holes in the plot, well itemized here at this site, are many. But it is still suspenseful and frightening and believable long enough for you to be taken in completely. The "ending" is baseball bat to the head. It works so well though I didn't hate myself at all for falling for it. Twice.