Reindeer Games Review
By Joe Lozito
Snow Business
Writer Ehren Kruger (Arlington Road, Scream 3) should have his dramatic license revoked. He seems to want to corner the market on ridiculous, film-sacrificing plot twists. At least "Arlington Road" maintained some degree of sanity before throwing its eleventh-hour curve ball at us, and goodness knows the "Scream" series isn't known for its believability. "Reindeer Games", however, has the tone of a classic heist-thriller. Unfortunately, with plot twists - which, by this point, have become predictable - that reduce the characters to balsa wood, the tone of the film is at odds with the material. I can't entirely blame Mr. Kruger for this, however. The film was directed by John Frankenheimer, and he treats the material with the heavy hand of his "Ronin" or "Black Sunday". Perhaps if the script had been presented more tongue-in-cheek (like the ludicrous plot bending of "Wild Things") it might of worked - but even then I'm not so sure.
Ben Affleck mugs his way through the role of Ruby Deacon, an ex-con who, upon his release from prison, takes the identity of his cellmate Nick to woo Ashley (Charlize Theron, who can play window dressing in her sleep by now) whose brother (a scenery-chewing Gary Sinise) wants to use Nick's knowledge of a casino to rip the joint off. Got that? Well, it doesn't matter. It'll all be turned on its head by the time the movie's over. Certain films reward the viewer for rapt attention to the plot, films like this, however, only serve to make the viewer feel cheated and used by the end.
There are some good moments in the film, during which Mr. Frankenheimer's old suspense-training comes into play. For example, there's a clever escape from a hotel and a nice chase through the hotel's hallways. Other than that, however, the film for all its twists and turns, feels pretty flat.
