THE MICHAEL DOUGLAS FAN PAGE:
FILM REVIEWS
The Game
By TERRY FROST
Festivale Spring 1997
There's a certain kind of good movie that delights by being unpredictable. You think you
know where the story goes, but like a bad cab driver (one of whom this movie contains) it
takes you there by the scenic route.
Nicholas Van Orton (Michael Douglas) is a 48 year old millionaire whose life is cold and
alienated. He's a control freak. His brother Conrad (Sean Penn) gives him an unusual
present for his birthday. A game organised by a shadowy corporation called Consumer
Recreation Services.
Reluctantly, but somewhat intrigued, Van Orton becomes involved in the real life game. His
television starts talking to him, his pen leaks before a business meeting, his attache
case won't open. Then the game takes a sinister turn and the possibility of it being a
scam to get Van Orton's millions becomes increasingly likely.
This film plays with reality in a way somewhat reminiscent of Richard Rush's "The
Stunt Man". What is real and what is artifice? Is that just someone walking by or is
it an actor in your game?
David Fincher, the guy who directed "Alien 3" then came good on
"Seven" continues the winning streak with this one. As in "Seven", the
theme of manipulation by outside forces continues in "The Game". In spite of the
fact that there's no clear villain or any particular love interest, (Deborah Unger doesn't
quite qualify) the film never flags. Clues are salted around the screen at various times,
Van Orton's predicament takes weird, horrible and wonderful turnings and the audience is
manipulated in a way thatmakes us part of the game.
For a medium-big budget Hollywood film, this one gives us the goodies more than megahyped
flicks like "Men in Black". It engages the brain as well as the visual cortex
and that's quite rare in the product coming from the big boys these days.
Michael Douglas is creating a career in which he's becoming a kind of noir icon for the
nineties. Movies like "Falling Down", "Disclosure", "The
Game" and "Basic Instinct" show him playing flawed, driven characters who
meet just what it takes to crack them. (His father did similar in movies like "The
Bad and the Beautiful" and "The Big Carnival" and in several moments in
"The Game", Michael's resemblance to Kirk is striking.) He's starting to become
interesting to watch.
Check this movie out. It's fun.
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