the fresh films reviews

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The Game (1997)

Directed by:
David Fincher
COUNTRY
USA

GENRE
Thriller

NORWEGIAN TITLE
Spillet

RUNNING TIME
128 minutes

Produced by:
Steve Golin
Ceán Chaffin
Written by:
John Brancato
Michael Ferris


Cast includes:

CHARACTER ACTOR/ACTRESS RATING
Nicholas Van Orton Michael Douglas
Conrad Van Orton Sean Penn
Christine/Claire Deborah Unger
Jim Feingold James Rebhorn
Samuel Sutherland Peter Donat ˝
Ilsa Carroll Baker ˝
Anson Baer Armin Mueller-Stahl ˝
Elizabeth Anna Katarina ˝
Solicitor/Taxi Driver Tommy Flanagan ˝

 

Review

Michael Douglas plays a wealthy investment banker whose dreary, uneventful life is turned upside down when his brother invites him to try a newfound game organized by a mysterious company. What does the game entail? And has it even started yet? David Fincher's much discussed and relatively hailed mystery-thriller is as intriguing as it is frustrating and manipulative. We follow Douglas around the city of San Francisco in what feels like a real-world computer game where you never know what the rules are or who you can trust. Fincher aims for a captivating, luxurious atmosphere filled with paranoia, but the story's unruly downward spiral is an exertion which the wildly elaborate and overly clever ending cannot quite balance – even if it does pose some interesting questions about appreciating life and contemplating death.

Re-reviewed: Copyright © 01.05.2023 Fredrik Gunerius Fevang
Original review: © 24.03.2000 Fredrik Gunerius Fevang