Amazon.com
It's not quite as clever as it tries to be, but
The Game does a tremendous job of presenting the story of a rigid control freak trapped in circumstances that are increasingly beyond his control. Michael Douglas plays a rich, divorced, and dreadful investment banker whose 48th birthday reminds him of his father's suicide at the same age. He's locked in the cage of his own misery until his rebellious younger brother (Sean Penn) presents him with a birthday invitation to play "The Game" (described as "an experiential Book of the Month Club")--a mysterious offering from a company called Consumer Recreation Services. Before he knows the game has even begun, Douglas is caught up in a series of unexplained events designed to strip him of his tenuous security and cast him into a maelstrom of chaos. How do you play a game that hasn't any rules? That's what Douglas has to figure out, and he can't always rely on his intelligence to form logic out of what's happening to him. Seemingly cast as the fall guy in a conspiracy thriller, he encounters a waitress (Deborah Unger) who may or may not be trustworthy, and nothing can be taken at face value in a world turned upside down. Douglas is great at conveying the sheer panic of his character's dilemma, and despite some lapses in credibility and an anticlimactic ending,
The Game remains a thinking person's thriller that grabs and holds your attention.
--Jeff Shannon
Video Description
There are no rules in The Game. And that will make life very difficult for Nicholas Van Orton (Michael Douglas), a successful businessman who is always in control. Van Orton lives a well-ordered life-until an unexpected birthday gift from his brother (Sean Penn) destroys it all. Van Orton has been enrolled in a game-"a profound life experience"-that begins quietly enough but soon erupts in a rush of devastating events. Like it or not, he must either win or lose control of everything in his life.
