As Richard the III bellowed: "A Diehard, a Diehard... my kingdom for a Diehard" (or something to that affect if Joe Bob Briggs was doing the Bard). With this wreck of film from John Frankenhemier, the streak of bad action films continues unabated. Action/Adventure films are my very un-guilty pleasure of going to movies. While I've matured to look forward to the fall and winter seasons that bring with them a proportional higher number of quality, serious works, it is the summer that is the apple of my eye. Put your brain in neutral, grab some Raisinettes and head for the seats in the "sweet-spot." I'm sure I caught a few "You said it, brother's" coming in across the ether from others so inclined.
In other words, I was pre-sold on liking "Reindeer Games." An ex-con blackmailed into helping a crew of thieves pull a casino heist at Christmas? I'm there baby, I'm there. I would have really been psyched if I had remembered that John Frankenheimer was behind the lens of "Ronin" as well. What turned this "Reindeer" into roadkill instead of Grade A venison? I finger the writer, Ehren Kruger. If I pointed out he was also behind "Arlington Road" and "Scream 3" I'm sure many out there will tell me I should have been forewarned, but I must claim ignorance as I truly didn't know. If you thought those two were bad, "Reindeer Games" is worse. I get the feeling Kruger once said "I want to write a movie with a big, surprise twist at the end and "Reindeer" was his warm-up for "Road." I'm really fearful now for two more films he has coming out this year: "Impostor" and "Texas Rangers."
Ben Affleck, who should have been a good choice to play a car thief, is expected to inhabit a character who is much harder than he can pull off. At least the prison we meet him in is much tougher than Affleck could have survived without becoming the local pump. The rest of the cast, including a completely wasted Dennis Farina, are well suited to their roles. It's a pesky problem with logic that derails this would-be thriller.
This is one of those films that asks you not once or twice, but repeatedly, to accept that characters will always do what other characters expect and predict them to do. It asks you to accept that the bad guys can act like bad guys out in the open (at one point, Gary Sinese and his gang pull a NRA wet-dream of weapons out of a car trunk NEXT TO THE CASINO THEY WANT TO ROB!). That characters who are play-acting would do things that only make sense if they aren't play acting (sorry, but any less vague on that one and I'd "spoil" one of those twists for those who read this and STILL want to pay good money just to see Charlize Theron naked).
What's really depressing is when you look back on it, it should have been decent. All the elements are there (interesting setting, smart hero, clever ways to kill people). Either Kruger can't get past the point where he comes up with these elements and puts them in a workable script, or he is so busy (5 movies coming out in the space of about one year must be some sort of record) that he ignores the cardinal rule of screenwriting: writing is rewriting. All of those released so far needed a few more runs through the word processor. I might have to go to Westwood, where "The Matrix" has returned to the big screen to celebrate its technical nominations, to cleanse myself and reaffirm my faith in Hollywood's ability to produce Movies For Guys Who Like Movies like nobody else on the freaking planet
In other words, I was pre-sold on liking "Reindeer Games." An ex-con blackmailed into helping a crew of thieves pull a casino heist at Christmas? I'm there baby, I'm there. I would have really been psyched if I had remembered that John Frankenheimer was behind the lens of "Ronin" as well. What turned this "Reindeer" into roadkill instead of Grade A venison? I finger the writer, Ehren Kruger. If I pointed out he was also behind "Arlington Road" and "Scream 3" I'm sure many out there will tell me I should have been forewarned, but I must claim ignorance as I truly didn't know. If you thought those two were bad, "Reindeer Games" is worse. I get the feeling Kruger once said "I want to write a movie with a big, surprise twist at the end and "Reindeer" was his warm-up for "Road." I'm really fearful now for two more films he has coming out this year: "Impostor" and "Texas Rangers."
Ben Affleck, who should have been a good choice to play a car thief, is expected to inhabit a character who is much harder than he can pull off. At least the prison we meet him in is much tougher than Affleck could have survived without becoming the local pump. The rest of the cast, including a completely wasted Dennis Farina, are well suited to their roles. It's a pesky problem with logic that derails this would-be thriller.
This is one of those films that asks you not once or twice, but repeatedly, to accept that characters will always do what other characters expect and predict them to do. It asks you to accept that the bad guys can act like bad guys out in the open (at one point, Gary Sinese and his gang pull a NRA wet-dream of weapons out of a car trunk NEXT TO THE CASINO THEY WANT TO ROB!). That characters who are play-acting would do things that only make sense if they aren't play acting (sorry, but any less vague on that one and I'd "spoil" one of those twists for those who read this and STILL want to pay good money just to see Charlize Theron naked).
What's really depressing is when you look back on it, it should have been decent. All the elements are there (interesting setting, smart hero, clever ways to kill people). Either Kruger can't get past the point where he comes up with these elements and puts them in a workable script, or he is so busy (5 movies coming out in the space of about one year must be some sort of record) that he ignores the cardinal rule of screenwriting: writing is rewriting. All of those released so far needed a few more runs through the word processor. I might have to go to Westwood, where "The Matrix" has returned to the big screen to celebrate its technical nominations, to cleanse myself and reaffirm my faith in Hollywood's ability to produce Movies For Guys Who Like Movies like nobody else on the freaking planet