Reindeer Games | | Cast : | Ben Affleck, Gary Sinise, Charlize Theron | | Director : | John Frankenheimer | | Studio : | Dimension Home Video | | Format : | Color, Closed-captioned, Widescreen | | Released Date : | February 25, 2000 | | DVD Released Date : | February 04, 2003 | | Language : | English (Dubbed) | | Audience Rating : | R (Restricted) | | | BUY THIS DVD FROM AMAZON |
Customer Reviews
| Rating |  | | Date | November 18, 2004 | | Summary | Sex, love & betrayal | Content
 | I've been after seeing this movie for quite a while, but never got round to buying it. I'm glad I borrowed it now - don't get me wrong, it's a good movie, but I doubt I'd watch it again. It's very Christmassy though. And we get to see Ben Affleck's butt - although he's got a bit of a fuzzy chest. Can't have it all, can we? There's a lot of butt to pinch there!
Most of the plot is very unbelieveable in this, and there's lot of violence that is in very bad taste. The ending is hinted at at the beginning - don't be eating at the start - and by the time the movie does finish off after a very long & dragged out process, there's been so many twists, that you're left wondering who's double/triple crossing who, and some twists reverse the direction you thought the film was travelling in. The twists are the cause for making the film less believeable, because they just wouldn't happen! And they're cliched to boot. Of course there's the usual, `I-won't-kill-you-now, I'll-give-you-an-exotic-and-elaborate-death-that-never-works' cliché along with countless others.
I loved the poster for this, although it looks airbrushed beyond belief. I loved nearly all the actors in this, although I didn't like Gary Sinise as the bad guy. He wasn't very believeable. Ben Affleck was great, showing off his tattooed arms, and Little Miss Blemish-Free, Clear Skin Charlize Theron shows she can hold a film, and also managed to get in some practice for her future film, Monster. Watching this, made me dig out Sweet November and have a good cry over that. If you blush easily, there's a rather saucy scene between Benny & Charlize, which practically made me blush! And his butt takes up most of the screen, that can't be a good thing! I'm not sure that scene was handled so well, it could have been done with a lot more taste. And after seeing Charlize so many times in Devil's Advocate, I'm sick of seeing her charms shall we say! Although I'm sure the guys aren't. If you've got it, flaunt it, as some people say it, and boy does she ever! Also, it's cold and boys, we girls would not go braless, cos certain things - well, put it this way, we have on as many layers as possible. Charlize must have been freezing throughout shooting!
There's not much to recommend about this movie. I assume from the theatrical to the director's cut, most of the saucier scenes were cut, as were most likely the shoot out scenes. It's a good movie to lose a couple of hours to, but if you're expecting a fast paced movie, then this isn't for you. |
| Rating | | | Date | November 07, 2004 | | Summary | Ben Affleck in Reindeer Games | Content
| Ben Affleck fan,gives a good performance and manages to be the hero in this film.
Affleck plays a prison inmate, Rudy Duncan who is
about to be released in 3 days with his pal NIck Cassidy (James Frain).
Nick is an ex-convict who dreams about the girl
that keeps writing him letters, who he has never met. Ashley Mercer.
Everthing seems great for Nick and Rudy,but a prison lunch room fight ends up in the killing of Nick. Rudy just barely ends up getting killed himself.
Then on the day of his release ,Rudy awaits outside along with
the other inmates for the bus that will take them away from their hell hole.
Rudy is about to board the bus when he spots a girl waiting for somebody.
Taking into consideration that Ashley,Nick's admirer doesnt know that Nick has been killed ,Rudy realizes that this girl is indeed Ashley. However, knowing that the girl is waiting for Nick, Rudy decides to take the identity of his friend.
This at first seems like a good decision that Rudy has made, he gets to spend a night with a great girl,but then trouble starts brewing in.
Ashley's so called brother,Gabriel (played well by Gary Sinise) enters and he starts to beat the hell out of Rudy, thinking that Rudy is indeed Nick.
You see Nick used to work in the gambling casinos and he was planning a big robbery which would make him rich.
Rudy at first denies he is NIck,but this just leads to more trouble, then Rudy tries to make a run for it and he is caught.
Then Rudy goes along with the fact that he is Nick
and manages to stay long enough to turn the
tables on the would be burglars.
There is alot more to Reindeer Games, at first
we are lead to belive that Ashley and Gabriel are siblings,
but later on this is not the case.
There are so many twists and turns that just
when you think it's over,it's not.
This is the latest movie by John Frankenheimer and
he shows that he can still make great movies in the
year 2000 (He has been making films for over 50 years.)
Id tell you more, but that would take all the fun
out of it.
Dont listen to the critics, they too were fooled
by the different twists of the movie.
The movie became a big box office hit and made Ben Affleck recognizable as more than a comedic, drama type actor, he has shown that he can play the hero too.
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| Rating | | | Date | August 25, 2004 | | Summary | Games People Play | Content
| As a director, the late John Frankenheimer, ranks as one of the best to ever hold the job. Classic thrillers like Black Sunday and the original Manchurian Candidate are among the best of their kind. While I can't deny that Reindeer Games has its share of problems, with a great director calling the shots, it's still better than some would have you believe.
Rudy Duncan (Ben Affleck) is a small-time car thief about to be released from jail in time for Christmas. When his cellmate, Nick (James Frain), is suddenly killed, Rudy decides to take on his identity in order to meet Nick's beautiful pen-pal girlfriend, Ashley (Charlize Theron). The pair has fun until her psychotic brother, Gabriel (Gary Sinise), shows up. Gabriel and his gang want to hold up a casino where Nick had once worked, and they blackmail Rudy/Nick into going along with the plan. Rudy has to bluff his way through the crime, pretending to be Nick in order to avoid being killed while trying to sabotage the plans of the bad guys.
The script, written by Ehren Kruger, who also penned Scream 3 and Arlington Road, relies too much on predictable conventions, trying to hide among a multilayered plot. Some have complained that the amount of humor in the film is misplaced. In my opinion though, the "sneaky" humor is one of the things that helps the movie--It's a script with multiple personality disorder. Sinise as an over the top baddie is not half bad. Theron and Affleck generate a few sparks as well. Thank goodness Frakenheimer keeps his wits about him.
I never saw the theatrical version of Reindeer Games, therefore, a comparison of the director's cut and the original version is not possible. According to reports Frakenheimer liked his cut better, for me, that's enough for me. The audio commentary from the director talks about those differences a bit. I really am gratful that he did this track, hearing him talk his methodology is a treat. A standard making of featurette and the theatrical trailer round the extras on the DVD.
Reindeer Games may have some script issues but it's still worth it for devotees of Frankenheimer. *** and a half stars
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| Rating | | | Date | August 16, 2004 | | Summary | GOOD MOVIE! QUESTION | Content
| Hi,
I normally write reviews about some movies. I really have a question about the movie. I have the original version. In the trailer police cars exploded in the streets, a building explodes ect.... Its not in the version I have. Is it in the Directors Cut? Any information would be greatly helpful. The movie it self is good. I think Gary did a GREAT job as a villan. I would reccomend this movie to action/thriller people. I enjoyed it alot, but still cant find those explosions in the trailer. Any help is great! My email is Devilboy123@comcast.net |
| Rating | | | Date | August 04, 2004 | | Summary | Game Over | Content
| Reindeer Games is an action movie, of this there can be no doubt.
It makes no bones about its intent, showing the audience gored and flaming men in Santa suits in the first thirty seconds of film. Obviously, with landmarks like these, its going to be a rocky trip, and, judging by the gaping hole in the jolly belly of one unfortunate Kringle, it's a journey with a not-so-happy ending.
Ben Affleck is the Rudolph in our little story, guiding the plot. The metaphor is hard to miss, as his character, a car thief just getting out on parole, is called "Rudy." Rudy's cell-mate, Nick (alaus, perhaps?), has had a five month "relationship" via the post office with a lovely girl named Ashley (played with flat-faced pluck by Charlize Theron). Once he gets out of the slammer, Nick will finally get to meet the girl in the pictures, and Ashley will finally get to see what Nick looks like.
But, alas, Nick is stabbed with a shiv before he leaves, and its up to the lonely and (I'm guessing here) sexually frustrated Rudy to approach her under the guise of his late cellmate. Ashley and Rudy hit it off and consummate their relationship. Of course, things go downhill from there.
Since the late Nick once worked in a casino, he is wanted by several thugs to lead a heist on his former place of employment. Heading off our gang of rowdy ragamuffins is Gary Sinise as the extremely unattractive head bad guy, Gabriel. Sinise plays his part with sneering extravagance; his performance is one-note, and although it's a decent note, it drags the speed of the movie down. With a body twice as big as his head (obviously he bulked up for the role) Sinise never really achieves a believably threatening level of villainry. Because his menace is only partially convincing, the movie only partially works. What is lacking is the following:
Our protagonist, Rudy, mentions a number of times that he is not Nick. He'll say he's not Nick, his life will be threatened, and then he'll say he is Nick. This sequence happens about four to five to seventeen times in the movie. Gabriel is either an idiot, or he's an idiot. Although screenwriter Kruger has given us an element of suspense by adding confusion as to how much Rudy does and doesn't know about Nick and his past, he also succeeds in aggravating the plot with the continuous frictional contrivance that is Rudy's inability to make up his mind about his identity. Because Rudy changes courses so often, Gabriel's own threats against his life are called into question, and since Rudy can't die (at least not until the end, if at all), Gabriel must pretend to believe Rudy's pleas that he IS Nick, and the audience must shift about in their seats some more.
There is no skimming here of the good ole' elements of all traditional action movies: every element is present and accounted for right down to the cheesy bad-guy-reveals-his-plot-right-before-leaving-the-hero-in-an-easily-escapabl e-death-trap scene. Don't look for unexpected twists or turns, but just for blaring guns, hallway running shots, and plenty of sex. It is a Frankenheimer film.
In a lot of ways, Reindeer Games wants to be more than it is. The craft of the filming and the clarity of the cinematography aren't weak by any means, but the movie essentially fumbles most critically where its plot is the thickest. In the end, you're left watching a movie that, while eminently entertaining on the most superficial of levels, is still just another excuse to watch guys shooting each other. Instead of a story that runs away with you, Games just seems to be toying around. |
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