Hands down, one of Fincher's best films paired with superb acting from both Michael Douglas and Sean Penn. A fast-paced, unraveling mysterious game from beginning to end, it is still a perfect film 30 years after its release.
The Game
What do you get for the man who has everything...?
Rating
3.8 (2)
Release Date
9/12/1997Runtime
129 minsOverview
In honor of his birthday, San Francisco banker Nicholas Van Orton, a financial genius and a cold-hearted loner, receives an unusual present from his younger brother, Conrad: a gift certificate to play a unique kind of game. In nary a nanosecond, Nicholas finds himself consumed by a dangerous set of ever-changing rules, unable to distinguish where the charade ends and reality begins.
How It Feels
Read from this film's synopsis, keywords and credits, and used to work out what it sits beside.
A meticulously controlled man spirals as reality becomes indistinguishable from an elaborate game designed to upend his carefully constructed life. Expect mounting dread, baroque twists, and the exhilarating vertigo of not knowing what's real.
Mood
ParanoidTenseUnsettlingBittersweet
Themes
ObsessionIdentityFamily
Tone
Bleak
Pacing
Propulsive
Look
FormalistHigh-contrast
Structure
Nonlinear
Michael Douglas
Nicholas Van Orton
Sean Penn
Conrad Van Orton
Deborah Kara Unger
Christine
James Rebhorn
Jim Feingold
Peter Donat
Samuel Sutherland
Carroll Baker
Ilsa
Anna Katarina
Elizabeth
Armin Mueller-Stahl
Anson Baer
Charles Martinet
Nicholas' Father
Scott Hunter McGuire
Young Nicholas
Florentine Mocanu
Nicholas' Mother
Elizabeth Dennehy
Maria
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