by: Dylan
Posted on 12.23.09 in Action/Adventure > All Horror Films > Mystery > Psychological Thriller > Thriller/Suspense
Release Date: 1997

“The Game” is a decent thriller derailed by – and I say this without the slightest bit of exaggeration or hyperbole – the absolute all-time worst ending to a film I’ve ever witnessed in my entire lifetime of film viewing. The finale is so at odds with the prior proceedings, so ridiculously ludicrous within the context of any film (but particularly one that bills itself as a ‘psychological thriller’), that it’s hard to come to terms with “The Game” actually making it from script form to a 2043 theater release without someone (Academy Award nominated director David Fincher? Sean Penn?) pointing out just one of the million featured plot holes. It takes not a suspension of disbelief, but a suspension of intellect to accept the ‘big reveal’. Normally an ending may not completely eviscerate all the redeeming qualities of a film, but in a mystery-thriller of this nature, where the entire film is leading up to the inevitable reveal, the conclusion comes to define the entire proceedings.

The Game sees Nicholas Van Orton (Michael Douglas), highly successful in the finance business, even more successful at being a complete prick, submerged within a professional “game”, recommended to him and paid for by his drug-addicted brother Conrad (Sean Penn) as a birthday present. Reluctant to engage in the game to begin with, which is shrouded in vagueness and requires countless private details/information of participants lives, Nicholas soon finds himself under constant surveillance, being followed by mysterious people, sent cryptic messages and other annoying sentiments of the sort. However, the game quickly spirals out of control, with Nicholas thrust into countless life-threatening scenarios, unable to quit the game amidst shoot-outs, the destruction of his home and his brother’s mental breakdown. As the circumstances become even more grandiose than before and the game increasingly appears as if there are no limits to what it can do (including seemingly predicting the future and participants being granted superhuman strength), it becomes quite apparent that there better be a damn good explanation by the end for all the nonsense ensuing. Assumingly, Fincher just buckled under the strenuous task of tying it all together.

Part of the problem is that no ending could be completely satisfactory after what occurs throughout the prior two hours or so. It’s not the usual action movie nonsense, such as walking away from countless high-risk situations without so much as a knick, although that is featured in abundance. The problem is that the game is on such a large scale that it isn’t feasible. It’s not just because police officers, cab drivers and pedestrians in on it, nor is it because entire hospitals, entire restaurants and entire businesses are in on it, but because nearly every single person Nicholas encounters is. It reaches the point where poor Nick and a small handful of others seem to be the only people in the whole San Francisco area not in on it. As well, the game relies entirely on knowing what Michael will do at exactly any given point in time, something impossible without the means of telekinesis. He’ll hail a cab at this exact moment. He’ll jump off a ledge at exactly that point. He’ll swivel his head in that exact direction at that exact moment. It’s enjoyable, good fun, but there’s an accompanying uneasy feeling about how it’s all going to turn out.

While no ending could be completely satisfactory, the chosen ending remains the least satisfactory. All the lapses in logic are abundant throughout the film and these plot holes are cast aside in one of the most absurd twists in film history. It’s not that it heaps a million more plot holes onto the already towering heap, but that it essentially strips every single character of any semblance of intelligence or real emotion. I’m tip-toeing around the events of the ending in case people intend to watch the film, but the reasons, motives and logic behind the “game” for those involved are so far outside the realm of any fictional reality that they would only be acceptable within the realms of comedy, and even then it would be a bit iffy (indeed, there was a comedy within the last decade that employed a similar conclusion for nothing more than cheap laughs, and yet was still more plausible than this utter nonsense).

The worst part is that The Game presents its conclusion wrapped up in pseudo-intellect and a pretentious condescension, attempting to present some sort of meaningful lesson to both its character and the audience. It’s got all the fixings typical of a smart thriller: Academy Award nominated/winning talent, a moody low-key score, a meaningful moral, but it’s got all the intelligence of something with none. I’ve seen my fair share of bad endings before: one film ended with the characters all dying in a random explosion out of absolutely nowhere, another with the characters turning to the camera before unmasking the killer and shouting in street jargon ‘Yo, we’re not going to show you who the killer is. See you in the sequel! Bye”, and yet another one where a hotdog vendor turned out to be some sort of CGI demon-thingy. However, these were all preceded by equally stupid events and at least did not pretend to be anything other than dumb finales to equally dumb movies. The Game was somewhat enjoyable throughout and then ended with the equivalent of one of those atrocious endings, but masquerading as smart.

There are countless fans of “The Game”, and while normally I’m not such an elitist snob about these sorts of things, if they truly believe this to be an intelligent film in any sense of the words, they’ve been duped. It’s got all the fixings of one, but that’s all. This is the intellectual equivalent of “Freddy Got Fingered”. “Freddy Got Fingered” ended with Tom Green being ejaculated on by an elephant. I truly believe that would be a more fitting ending for “The Game”. Sure, Michael Douglas being sprayed with semen by a sexually excited elephant would be beyond silly, but at least it would wear it’s stupidity on its sleeve, rather than layered underneath countless pretensions. It would be a slap in the face to the viewing audience who invested two hours of their time, but at least it wouldn’t presume them to be idiots.

• ★★★★★

  Acting:

• ★★★★★

  Blood:

• ★★★★★

  Violence:

• ★★★★★

  Partying:

• ★★★★★

  Language:

• ★★★★★

  Humor:

• ★★★★★

  Predictable:

• ★★★★★

  Girls:

• ★★★★★

  Gore:

• ★★★★★

  Sexuality:

• ★★★★★

  Torture:

• ★★★★★

  Overall:

You are correct. It doesn't really add up. Throughout all the glossy finish and clever twists and loops, you end up getting a knot of a film that doesn't seem quite secure, in the least. It's a fun ride, but it's also disfigured in ways that make the entire film seem less enjoyable than what is obviously intended by such a talented production team. The ending would have been fine if the rest of the film was actually centered around the game, and not being the action packed thriller it tries to become.