The Game (1997)
82%RT Audience Score: 84%
Awards & Nominations: NA
The ending could use a little work but this is otherwise another sterling example of David Fincher’s iron grip on atmosphere and storytelling
The Game is a wild ride that will leave you questioning everything you thought you knew about reality. Sure, the plot might be a bit farfetched, but that’s what makes it so much fun! Michael Douglas delivers yet another fantastic performance as a wealthy businessman who gets caught up in a dangerous game that he can’t seem to escape. David Fincher’s direction is top-notch, with every scene expertly crafted to keep you on the edge of your seat. So, if you’re looking for a thrilling movie that will keep you guessing until the very end, then The Game is definitely worth a watch!
Production Company(ies)
Lama Films, United King Films, Rabinovich Film Fund, Cinema Project
Distributor
NA
Release Type
Filming Location(s)
MPAA / Certificate
TV-14
Year of Release
1997
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Color:Color
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Sound mix:Dolby
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Aspect ratio:NA
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Runtime:NA
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Language(s):
-
Country of origin:United States
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Release date:Release Date (Streaming): Apr 26, 2011
Genre(s)
Mystery & thriller
Keyword(s)
starring Michael Douglas, Sean Penn, Deborah Kara Unger, James Rebhorn, Peter Donat, Carroll Baker, directed by David Fincher, written by Michael Ferris, John D Brancato, mystery, thriller, box office, budget, reviewed by Kevin Maher, Anton Bitel, David Ansen, Jonathan Rosenbaum, Todd McCarthy, Geoff Andrew, Niall Browne, Luke Hicks, Clint Worthington, Marianna Neal, Mike Massie, produced by Steve Golin, Ceán Chaffin, R rated, personalized game, Nicholas Van Orton, Conrad Van Orton, Christine, Jim Feingold, Samuel Sutherland, Ilsa, shadowy scenes, ink, slow-mo squash, clockwork thriller, WASP-in-peril roles, catharsis, dark nights of the soul, absurd corporate antics, farfetched, plausibility, fun, iron grip on atmosphere, storytelling
Worldwide gross: $48,323,859
Worldwide gross (inflation-adjusted): NA
Worldwide gross ranking (inflation-adjusted): NA
Worldwide tickets sold (est.): NA
US/Canada gross: $48,323,648
US/Canada gross (inflation-adjusted): NA
US/Canada gross ranking (inflation-adjusted): NA
US/Canada opening weekend:
US/Canada opening weekend (inflation-adjusted): NA
US/Canada opening weekend ranking (inflation-adjusted): NA
Budget and Earnings Details
Production budget (est.): NA
Production budget (inflation-adjusted): NA
Production budget ranking: NA
Marketing and distribution budget (inflation-adjusted est.): NA
Box office net earnings to date (inflation-adjusted est.): NA
ROI to date (est.): NA
ROI ranking: NA
Sean Penn – Conrad Van Orton
Deborah Kara Unger – Christine
James Rebhorn – Jim Feingold
Peter Donat – Samuel Sutherland
Carroll Baker – Ilsa
Director(s)
David Fincher
Writer(s)
Michael Ferris, John D. Brancato
Producer(s)
Steve Golin, Ceán Chaffin
Film Festivals
Awards & Nominations
NA
Academy Awards
All Critics (62) | Top Critics (19) | Fresh (48) | Rotten (14)
It looks stunning, with every shadowy scene seemingly dipped in ink and some rapid-fire edits balanced by more experimental touches (super slow-mo squash, anyone?).
June 7, 2021 | Rating: 4/5
Kevin Maher
Times (UK)
TOP CRITIC
The more we invest in Nicholas’ bank of experiences, the more we display our willing complicity with, even subservience to, a system that lets cocooned elites merely play games (on an urban, even international scale)
July 27, 2020
Anton Bitel
Little White Lies
TOP CRITIC
The rational side of my brain can pick this movie apart until all that’s left is incoherent threads. The movie-mad side, happy to lose control, had a hell of a good time.
February 28, 2018
David Ansen
Newsweek
TOP CRITIC
This 1997 thriller is fairly entertaining nonsense if all you’re looking for is 128 minutes of diversion. But if you’d like something more from David Fincher, the director of Seven, don’t get your hopes up.
October 4, 2011
Jonathan Rosenbaum
Chicago Reader
TOP CRITIC
Regardless of how far one chooses to buy into The Game — and the ending ambiguously suggests that it could go on and on — there is no doubt as to Fincher’s staggering expertise as a director and his almost clinical sense of precision.
March 26, 2009
Todd McCarthy
Variety
TOP CRITIC
The film’s ‘message’ about complacency transformed by chaos and uncertainty is hackneyed…
February 9, 2006
Geoff Andrew
Time Out
TOP CRITIC
The Game is possibly David Fincher’s finest movie (or at least a close second to Zodiac) and it is a pity that it is sandwiched between Se7en and Fight Club
June 24, 2021 | Rating: 4/5
Niall Browne
Movies in Focus
A feral puzzle of absurd corporate antics, Fincher’s third film posits a horrifying question that no other filmmaker has dared to ask: What if Sean Penn was your brother?
February 17, 2021
Luke Hicks
Film School Rejects
“[L]ooking back on it now, it’s one of the man’s most assured tales, a clockwork thriller that turns all of Fincher’s detail-oriented obsessiveness into a surprisingly emotional tale of catharsis and dark nights of the soul.”
December 22, 2020
Clint Worthington
The Spool
There is certainly plenty to appreciate here, but the issues of this particular story are just too significant to overlook.
December 17, 2020 | Rating: 7/10
Marianna Neal
Impression Blend
The plausibility of the whole thing is ludicrously farfetched, but that’s the point – and the fun.
September 13, 2020 | Rating: 9/10
Mike Massie
Gone With The Twins
A classy thriller, and yet further evidence of how Michael Douglas was able to nail these WASP-in-peril roles.
October 31, 2019 | Rating: 3/5
PJ Nabarro
Patrick Nabarro…
Plot
Successful banker Nicholas Van Orton reluctantly accepts an odd gift from his estranged brother Conrad, which turns out to be a personalized, real-life game that grows increasingly personal and dangerous, leaving Nicholas fearing for his life as he tries to find answers for himself.
Trivia
Goofs / Tidbits
There is no goofy or funny or odd comment about the film in the Fresh Kernels review.
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