The Game

Nicholas Van Orton (Michael Douglas) is a very wealthy but lonely man who doesn't even have someone to spend his birthday with. On the day he turns 48 years old -the age his father had when he commited suicide- he gets a call from his brother Conrad (Sean Penn) and they agree to meet for lunch. Conrad gives him a birthday present, a CRS card (Consumer Recreation Service). He tells him it's very good and it changed his life, so Nicholas, after a lot of thinking, decides to go to CRS. He spends some time taking all sorts of tests and filling out forms, then he heads back home. A few days later he gets a call from CRS saying he has been rejected from it. After that, many strange things start happening.

Nicholas starts finding things in his house, his suitcase, everywhere, things that scare him because he has no clue about what they are or what they're doing there. He seeks help from a waitress (Deborah Unger) that spilled some liquid all over him at a restaurant, but later he discovers that she is involved somehow. Nicholas goes through a lot of trouble without even knowing who is doing this, but will he able to discover who's behind this, and why? And will he be able to return to his normal life?

Even though the film has a bunch of similarities with other Fincher movies such as "Seven" or "Fight Club", this is a different type of film with a completely different atmosphere. Opposite to other Fincher films, in here there is hardly any use of violence and disgusting scenes, so if you're one of those sensitive persons you have nothing to worry about. The atmosphere is unique, whenever Nicholas goes the audience gets the feeling he is being watched and something is about to happen, that's a pretty cool situation because since you're expecting something -which you never know what exactly it is- you wont be able to take your eyes off the screen the entire time.

I love this type of films where you never know for sure what happened, or sometimes you think you know for sure but then the story turns around completely and that explains what you've been wondering through the entire film. The film has not only one, but many twists, including a very unexpected but brilliant ending. Douglas plays the desperate and currently paranoid man very well, and Penn as his brother was also pretty good. Great acting, a wonderful story full of twists and not boring at any point, David Fincher directing the film.. what else could you ask for? This is a terrific movie I'd recommend to anyone.

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