Spirit Dimension Newsletter

Subscribe Unsubscribe

The Game DVD

Barry's Review

Discovering the object of the game
*is* the object of the game.

This is one interesting, thrilling film. It's definitley one of those films that you'll think about afterwards. Michael Douglas stars as a rich man(again?!), who is having his birthday. He's now at the age his father was when he comitted suicide. Sean Penn pops up as his brother, who offers him an interesting birthday present that needs him to play 'the game'. Before Michael knows it, the game is on and he doesn't know what's going on, what to do, or where to go. Along the way he hooks up with a waitress(Deborah Unger)who gets involved with him and this serious 'game'. There are twists and turns in this movie that are set up and executed very, very well. There are things that the audience won't expect. Douglas is very good when he gets to play icy millionaires. You can thank "Wall Street" for that. He is at his best here. Sean Penn does what he can with a pretty small role. Director David Fincher brings a moody, captivating presence to the film. This is a very good movie that will grab hold of your attention and not let it go until the very end.

Amazon.com Editorial Review

It's not quite as clever as it tries to be, but The Game does a tremendous job of presenting the story of a rigid control freak trapped in circumstances that are increasingly beyond his control. Michael Douglas plays a rich, divorced, and dreadful investment banker whose 48th birthday reminds him of his father's suicide at the same age. He's locked in the cage of his own misery until his rebellious younger brother (Sean Penn) presents him with a birthday invitation to play "The Game" (described as "an experiential Book of the Month Club") --a mysterious offering from a company called Consumer Recreation Services. Before he knows the game has even begun, Douglas is caught up in a series of unexplained events designed to strip him of his tenuous security and cast him into a maelstrom of chaos. How do you play a game that hasn't any rules? That's what Douglas has to figure out, and he can't always rely on his intelligence to form logic out of what's happening to him. Seemingly cast as the fall guy in a conspiracy thriller, he encounters a waitress (Deborah Unger) who may or may not be trustworthy, and nothing can be taken at face value in a world turned upside down. Douglas is great at conveying the sheer panic of his character's dilemma, and despite some lapses in credibility and an anticlimactic ending, The Game remains a thinking person's thriller that grabs and holds your attention.