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Editorial Reviews
Enormously wealthy and emotionally remote investment banker Nicholas Van Orton (Traffic’s Michael Douglas) receives a strange gift from his ne’er-do-well younger brother (Milk’s Sean Penn) on his forty-eighth birthday: a voucher for a game that, if he agrees to play it, will change his life. Thus begins a trip down a rabbit hole that is puzzling, terrifying, and exhilarating for Nicholas and viewer alike. This multilayered, noirish descent into one man’s personal hell is also a surreal, metacinematic journey that, two years after the phenomenon Se7en, further demonstrated that director David Fincher was one of Hollywood’s true contemporary visionaries.
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
4 of 4 people found the following review helpful
Format:Blu-ray
Michael Douglas does one of the best jobs in his career playing the wealthy-but-jaded investment banker, Nicolas Van Orton, a man who tells his secretary, "You don't know about society, so you don't have the pleasure of avoiding it." Divorced and living alone in his magnificent San Francisco mansion, Nicolas is enduring yet another birthday (his 48th, the same age his father was when he committed suicide) when he receives an unexpected visit from his younger brother, Conrad (a gleefully-going-for-broke Sean Penn), the black sheep of the family with a history of drug use. Conrad looks good, though, and he comes bearing an unusual birthday gift: a game.
What follows is a chaotic, uncertain series of events that could be anything: social terrorism, a massive con, financial sabotage, or the world's most elaborate mind game. Run by a company called Consumer Recreation Services (or CRS), the game ends up infecting every aspect of Nicolas's life, from chance encounters with homeless men to the guy who reads the evening news. Nicolas's mind and life fray ever further as he struggles to figure out just what is going on. He is given an 800 number at the start of the game and told, "Do not call asking for the object of the game. Figuring that out is the object of the game."
Others have argued about plotholes in the script -- the game is unbelievably complex in both its planning and execution, and it relies on events adhering to a finely-tuned sense of timing and place -- but these concerns are dealt with deftly by the dialogue if you're paying attention. Ultimately, the point of the film -- what it takes to re-engage with life (let's just say it costs someone an exorbitant amount of money and someone else an exorbitant amount of pain) -- is so beautifully managed by Fincher's meticulous directing that whatever questions you might have about the reality of it all take a backseat to the intricate and masterful psychology of the whole thing. Maybe the point is that -- like the Bible says -- it is easier for a camel to enter the eye of a needle than it is for a rich man to enter heaven, even if heaven is just another word for whatever joy there is to find in life, be it family, friends, or love.
Enjoy the ride, then watch it and enjoy it again. Each viewing, for me, reveals even more attention to detail and continues to be -- as it was when I first saw it -- a rewarding experience. Even still, as one character says, "I wish I could go back and do it again for the first time." I can't do that with this film, but the message of the movie is that even when life feels like it has been lived to the end, maybe -- no matter how outrageous the cost -- there is a way to go back and start it over again.
What follows is a chaotic, uncertain series of events that could be anything: social terrorism, a massive con, financial sabotage, or the world's most elaborate mind game. Run by a company called Consumer Recreation Services (or CRS), the game ends up infecting every aspect of Nicolas's life, from chance encounters with homeless men to the guy who reads the evening news. Nicolas's mind and life fray ever further as he struggles to figure out just what is going on. He is given an 800 number at the start of the game and told, "Do not call asking for the object of the game. Figuring that out is the object of the game."
Others have argued about plotholes in the script -- the game is unbelievably complex in both its planning and execution, and it relies on events adhering to a finely-tuned sense of timing and place -- but these concerns are dealt with deftly by the dialogue if you're paying attention. Ultimately, the point of the film -- what it takes to re-engage with life (let's just say it costs someone an exorbitant amount of money and someone else an exorbitant amount of pain) -- is so beautifully managed by Fincher's meticulous directing that whatever questions you might have about the reality of it all take a backseat to the intricate and masterful psychology of the whole thing. Maybe the point is that -- like the Bible says -- it is easier for a camel to enter the eye of a needle than it is for a rich man to enter heaven, even if heaven is just another word for whatever joy there is to find in life, be it family, friends, or love.
Enjoy the ride, then watch it and enjoy it again. Each viewing, for me, reveals even more attention to detail and continues to be -- as it was when I first saw it -- a rewarding experience. Even still, as one character says, "I wish I could go back and do it again for the first time." I can't do that with this film, but the message of the movie is that even when life feels like it has been lived to the end, maybe -- no matter how outrageous the cost -- there is a way to go back and start it over again.
8 of 12 people found the following review helpful
Format:Blu-ray
After waiting too long to obtain my favorite movie on Blu-ray, I recently gave in and purchased a no-frills import. I'm very happy indeed to see that I can soon replace it with a better disc which includes what appears to be some fine extras--including an alternate ending.
By M. Clark
Format:Blu-ray
For the love of Pete, I have wanted this movie on Blu for years! This is my favorite movie of all time and now I can enjoy it on blu-ray.
Most Recent Customer Reviews
5.0 out of 5 stars
A Classic
One of the best modern thrillers. Maybe my favorite David Fincher movie. I remember seeing this for the first time in the theaters and it blew my mind.
Published 1 month ago by R. Saunders
5.0 out of 5 stars
Standing Ovation - BRILLIANT !!!
I burst into spontaneous applause at the end of this film because there is not a film out there like it, none. The truth may well be out there, but films of this calibre aren't. Read more
Published 1 month ago by P. Roberts
5.0 out of 5 stars
Douglas and Fincher at thier best
This movie is one great ride through the soul of a man. That throws him down a rabbit hole and forces him to overcome odds that drive him to his braking point. Read more
Published 1 month ago by The Light Side
4.0 out of 5 stars
Finally, 4 star for the movie. Hopefully the blu ray will be the same.
I got the HD DVD of this long time ago and it was mediocre.This was teased awhile back and I totally forgot about it until about 10 minutes ago while browsing through Criterions... Read more
Published 1 month ago by MOrn
5.0 out of 5 stars
Stunning on Blu Ray
Remember years back sitting down with someone watching this movie and thinking... damn what an amazing movie? I Do! Read more
Published 1 month ago by Chris
5.0 out of 5 stars
great film
This film has always stuck with me because i get the same beautifully uneasy feeling watching it, always feel just as lost and confused as michael douglas... Read more
Published 2 months ago by josh
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