Reindeer Games A review by: Blake Kunisch Directed by: John Frankenheimer & John+Frankenheimer Released: February 25, 2000 - US Posted: 2000/02/25 | 4/10 starsWhy was this film made? Most likely it was aimed at being a holiday blockbuster
starring the high profile Ben Affleck. It has all the makings of a holiday
blockbuster - snowy fields, lakes iced over, Christmas songs, and oh yeah, dead Santas.
The opening shot we see dead Santas strewn about on the top of car hoods, on top of
tables and miscellaneous other places - then we flash back six days to Rudy (Affleck) and
Nick (James Frain) in jail, about to be released in three days. All Rudy wants when
he gets out is a cup of hot chocolate and a piece of pecan pie. Nick on the other
hand has loftier goals. He plans on seeing the girl of his dreams (Charlize Theron)
whom he met in jail via letter exchanges. Back to the holiday blockbuster aspect -
why wasn't it released then? Fortunately someone at Dimension realized they had a
dud on their hands and pushed it back until February where there wouldn't be much
competition and hoped it could make just a little money (which, unfortunately, it probably
will).
Now, back to the extremely confusing plot. I know that I'm not the only person
who couldn't figure out what the hell was going on in the trailer for this movie. It
makes about as much sense as a rabbit drinking soda (don't ask). After every twist
and turn, after every imaginable and conceivable plot bend and curve, we are always given
a long explanation about how we got there (usually consisting of one person holding a gun
to another person's head). Now, the smart director or writer would realize that if a
movie needs this much explaining after every scene, there's something wrong with the
movie. Which, indeed, there is.
Reindeer Games just doesn't make sense. Plain and simple. There's always
something to keep you interested - a new turn here, a new clue there - but it just doesn't
add up to a good, convincing movie. Of course, there's going to be the all to
standard ending which no one could see coming, and the all to standard bad guy loses, good
guy wins, but apart from this, there's really no point to the movie. Just a couple
laughs here and there when the characters do something stupid (I still can't figure out if
I was supposed to laugh at the points that I did), and some shoot-em-up scenes (and of
course explosions). Not much to it, not much of a movie, not worth much more than a
buck.
Genres: Suspense Rated: R Runtime: 105 minutes Talk back in the discussion boards! |
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