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FILM REVIEWS

Mind-bending thrills are the name of 'The Game'
By Mike Clark
USA Today

A van parked by a building blandly reads "Cable Repair Services," but we're 90 minutes into The Game, so the logo rates a nervously knowing laugh. By now, nothing in this yarn is ever what it seems, not even a Daniel Schorr newscast. As a result, Michael Douglas' character becomes immersed in paranoia, a state empathetic moviegoers may find catching.

At least up to a point. Director David Fincher's follow-up to Seven sucks you into a funnel for two hours, though the resolution will generate pro-con arguments even among this thriller's enthusiasts.

In one of his best roles ever, Douglas plays a regimented investment banker given a birthday present by his black-sheep brother (Sean Penn). Organized by Consumer Recreation Services as a gift for the person who has everything, this life-inverting game is designed as an antidote to complacency.

Coming to mind at once is John Frankenheimer's Seconds, the 1966 cult classic (and recent video release) that survived initial pans to pick up a huge following. Both films deal with materially successful middle-age dullards whose lives are taken under wing by a murky corporation operating secretly in a major urban center (here, San Francisco). And in both, the protagonist is begging for mercy by movie's end.

But while Seconds' transformation is largely physical (the hero has plastic surgery), this game is the mind game of all time. Douglas' briefcase won't open and a leaky pen stains his shirt. Accident or master plan? Schorr begins talking to Douglas from inside the TV, and Douglas' mansion is trashed. Hmm, the stakes are getting higher, aren't they? Just wait.

John Brancato and Michael Ferris have written a beautifully constructed script, yet it ultimately must explain so many fantastic events that the writers inevitably paint themselves into a corner. Though the wrap-up wears better upon reflection, it'll likely work against full enjoyment of the film on subsequent viewings.

For now, though, The Game is a crowd-pleasing pip most of the way. Fincher even contributes to a creepy mood by the way he photographs a hamburger. (R: violence, profanity)

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