THE GAME (1997) *** It's more an interesting film than a great one, and much of the interest relates to shadowy off-screen activity having nothing to do with the actors. Were John D. Brancato and Michael Ferris III offering a metaphor for subterranean forces who rule the world of commerce? If so, no one has ever made them so interesting. Were they instead offering a metaphor on how any outside interests or events impinge on work time, and so are best left alone? After all, Michael Douglas seems happiest and most at ease when he is working morning, noon, night, and everything between. Or were they just trying to write an interesting script in the hopes of making some quick cash and setting into motion endless pontifications by self-indulgent critics? If so, they certainly succeeded on all counts. It has to be a metaphor, you see, because the plot doesn't work in terms of realism for more than 3 or 4 minutes at any point. It has to be a metaphor because it gains critical mass and momentum, and the statutory standard of suspense, anyway. Sean Penn appears just enough to remind us what a great actor he is, and to curse the individualism that allows him to lend us so little of his individualistic art, and against any odds that I would have posted looks just like Douglas' little brother. Douglas reprises his role from Wall Street in a different dimension that's apparently made all of the same mistakes; it's a roll that he plays well, he breathes life into characters who appear to have little during the day, outside the cinema. Saw that surprise ending coming from somewhere around the opening credits though. Best cinematic use of Jefferson Airplane's "White Rabbit" since Where the Buffalo Roam.
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