The Game

Michael Douglas, Sean Penn, and David Fincher – you just can't go wrong. While this is far from Fincher's best film, it is very respectably above average. Suspense, a fair amount of "mystery", a great performance by Michael Douglas, an uncomplicated plot, and a nice ending – that's everything The Game offers. Are you ready to play? (03/29/2009)

The script for The Game was originally written back in 1991 with the simple aim of just giving it away to a studio for money, which eventually worked out and made it all the way to Fincher, who with Se7en screenwriter Andrew Walker spent 6 months rewriting so they could sew it together into at least this. It probably couldn't have been done any better without creating something completely different. I can understand the audacious ambition to present the viewer with a lie (which is an inalienable part of film in general) as an actual untruth, and it fits exactly with my idea of a young, brash Fincher wanting to challenge and unnerve the viewer; however he tries relatively successfully to hold it all together, by the end it slips away completely and the whole film implodes into annoying nonsense about a now-wiser curmudgeon who got to the whole finale mainly through an excruciating cavalcade of coincidences that must have made the entire glorious CRS company's forehead drip with sweat. However, the cinematography, lighting, and excellent portrayal of the characters through objects and space still make this a first-rate spectacle, even if the film's punchline, for example, completely degrades any future viewings. (03/01/2020)

I like Dave Fincher for his talent to "create" a great atmosphere and imprint a specific style on each film. Nevertheless, he has a problem with The Game, because this screenwriting mystification seems to me to be a disposable film. It’s not that I didn't enjoy watching the way the whole game with the viewer played out, and it’s not that Fincher didn't give the film his typical directing style. It's just that it’s missing that the vague, sparkling thing that, for example, Seven has. On the other hand, this is a pure and very straightforward thriller, so blaming it for the lack of depth is unfair. It’s good enough film material to entertain. (03/28/2006)

For me, the weakest Fincher's film, not so much because of the direction, where the director sets the bar, but because of the overly contrived script, where it's better not to think about certain parts at all, otherwise the viewer will realize that it simply cannot work. In terms of acting, however, it is an interestingly cast film and especially well-performed - Michael Douglas and Sean Penn belong to the top of the acting profession, and I have a weakness for Deborah Kara Undger. She can give an erotic charge to her female characters. But I really disliked that script with lots of seemingly effective plot twists. Overall impression: 45%. (06/18/2006)

I certainly have a long-built fondness for the great Michael Douglas films of the 80s and 90s, and Fincher's The Game is one of the highlights of that great era. Who can resist suspense thrillers in which Michael practically never leaves the screen? He's partnered with Sean Penn and Deborah Kara Unger, the subject matter is period-appropriate in many ways and it's all very enjoyable. Such an indulgence is irresistible. (09/10/2022)