It’s in The Game
Before making a name for himself with his brutal, culture-chastising, head-tripping adaptation of Chuck Palaniuk’s Fight Club—and long before his Oscar-winning films The Curious Case of Benjamin Button and The Social Network, director David Fincher was known largely as a talented but unproven thriller director with the maligned Alien 3 and moody, modest hit Se7en under his belt.
But with 1997’s The Game, Fincher announced his arrival among his generation’s master directors, and finally the film is being recognized by boutique video distribution company Criterion Collection for a deluxe re-release. So what’s included? Besides a gorgeous cover, about an hour’s worth of behind-the-scenes footage, multiple audio commentaries, and even an alternate ending—which, for those who have actually seen The Game know that, with this film, an alternate ending is no small curiosity.
In one of his most wide-ranging roles, Michael Douglas stars as an ultra-weathly financier who, on the eve of his 48th birthday and the anniversary of his father’s tragic suicide, receives from his troubled brother—played brilliantly by a twitchy, caterwauling Sean Penn—a card granting him unknown services from a shadowy company. “They make your life fun,” Penn tells him. Against his better judgement, Douglas visits the company, takes a few tests, fills out some forms and leaves. Then the fun begins. His cushy life is turned upside down as he’s drawn into the heart of a mystery that only he can solve, on a journey that will strip away everything he has, except what is most important.
“What do you get for the man who has everything?” Penn asks in the film. The answer is shocking, but what happens when Douglas can no longer tell where the game ends and real life begins?
Borrowing the kind of tense, psychological acrobatics first developed by Hitchcock and Poe, Fincher’s film would be considered a modern literary classic if it was told with ink and pages. As is, The Game is an intelligent, must-see thriller, and the first real sign that Fincher was a truly formidable talent with a camera. The Game is available on Blu-ray from Criterion Collection this September. Watch the trailer below:
